Chocolate, Art, and Culture

What more could you possibly want? I got my fill of chocolate and architecture last week when I took the day on Friday to explore some new parts of the city.

I started the day at the Porte de Versailles which often plays host to huge conventions. Why go to a convention center when there's all this "culture" to be had downtown? For chocolate, of course. The Salon du Chocolat was hosted in Paris from 29 October - 2 November (and lots of other European cities on other dates). Translated, it is essentially a chocolate show or exhibition. To put it less elegantly, it is a giant chocolate convention.

There was so much chocolate. Every flavor in every form. I have never seen so much chocolate. They had chocolate spreads, chocolate fountains, chocolat chaud, chocolate candies, fudge, macaroons, tea and coffee (chocolate-flavored of course), chocolate liqueur, and chocolate shaped like everything imaginable (shoes, motorcycles, owls, work tools, spoons, and... ahem... body parts). They had workshops and various talks on chocolate-related things from famous people in the chocolate-making world. And they had tents from everyone who is anyone in the chocolate-making world. And yes, they had samples. So many samples. Of everything imaginable. And it was all excruciatingly delicious. Here are a few photos from my visit:

Chocolate Bust

Chocolate Creations

Chocolate Fountains

Chocolate Glasses (they had shot glasses too)

After my cacao overload, I went home to decompress a bit and then headed back out to visit the brand new Fondation Louis Vuitton, the latest master-piece by "starchitect" (that's a thing, I swear), Frank Gehry. Some people hate it, naturally. It is Paris after all and they don't always love change. If you didn't know, a lot of people hated the Eiffel Tower when it was built (and they probably still do) so it doesn't surprise me that the new museum has some anti-fans. That being said, I had an amazing time there.

I thought the building was absolutely breath-taking and I loved everything about it. The mesmerizing fountain cascading down towards the lowest floor into a sort of moat around the bottom of the building. The sail-like pieces that make up the exterior of the building. The views from the top. The feel of the place. It was all amazing to me. You truly felt like you were setting sail in the middle of Paris. Well, okay, on the outskirts of Paris. Still, I loved it. I didn't even care about the art (there's not much there right now anyways), I just wanted to explore the building itself. It's hard to keep track of where you are the way the staircases are set up, but I just wandered about taking it all in. I particularly loved the top floor which is half-outside, half-covered by the "sails" and it provides a fantastic view of the city. I went (purposely) around sunset to ensure I would get the perfect lighting for my visit. Perhaps I would have been less smitten at a different time of day, or maybe I was on a chocolate-high, but I really loved the building. You can check out my photos from my visit by following this link from my Google+ account: https://plus.google.com/photos/113918254013841803278/albums/6076455288500315777?authkey=CLD08ej42puLsQE

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