Bernachon chocolate, Lyon France

I don’t know what I’d do in a world without chocolate – for one thing, I wouldn’t have my favorite breakfast food anymore. So in Lyon, I convinced everyone to walk across town to Bernachon one morning. It turned out to be a much longer walk than I expected, but well worth the visit.

David Lebovitz, the Paris-based pastry-chef-turned-blogger, is a fan: “I love Bernachon chocolate, although it’s nearly impossible to find outside of their shop in Lyon. But what great chocolate it is and it’s certainly worth the 2-hour TGV ride from Paris.”

He describes coming home with piles of chocolate, and I followed his example.

The front of the shop is filled with pastries and cakes and baked goods, all glossy and tempting. I couldn’t resist the Le President, a dense chocolate tart crowned with a huge chocolate ruffle that looks like a peony.

I also got some dark chocolate bars, a bag of chocolate-covered caramelized hazelnuts, and some assorted bonbons – palets d’or (little discs filled with ganache and flecked with gold), truffettes (orange-flavored chocolate truffles covered in powdered sugar), and pistaches (pistachio marzipan in dark chocolate).

All the chocolates were impeccably fresh; the pistaches were my favorite, with such a soft and delicious filling. Amazingly, I managed to save a few even until I was back home, and every bite took me right back to Lyon.