A visit to my home country always divides up into two distinct parts: the first days are spent in Toulouse to see family and to gather for a joyous “Fête de Famille”. We love being able to see everyone, and to partake in a wonderful 5-hour lunch with great local wines.

We then head to Paris where we walk a lot (a necessity considering the food intake), go to museums, and discover new restaurants in our adoptive neighborhood of the Marais. But my personal goal is always to visit chocolatiers. It is so much fun to see what they created to decorate their shop windows for Easter, to chat with them and to buy their dazzling creations. I just returned to Belmont with kilos of goodies from a half dozen artisans. The chocolates will be frozen (I hold my own with eating chocolates, but it would be a terrible waste to race through these exquisite little bites), and I will taste them over the coming months to further my never-ending chocolate education.