0 Salon du...Designers!

These are the shoes of a brilliant designer. And a brilliant chocolatier, Jean-Paul Hevin.

Every detail is carefully considered. *When M. Hevin signs his new hot chocolate book, he uses his pen backside up (it's a Muji pen btw).

J-P Hevin could not be more charming and he giggled when I asked whose elegant shoes he was wearing.

"Zara" he whispered and smiled.

Naturalement post-Salon I ran to Zara to find the same baskets, but non plus/no more. I bought a wooly scarf and matching bonnet instead.

Hevin's stand at the salon is like a giant chocolate bar/tablette.

Has Hevin a propensity for grids? His hot chocolate won best in Le Figaro. You don't have to be French to figure out his recipes. This has to be easier than $#@! macarons.

But how to decide what to buy?

Another top Parisien chocolatier-designer, Sadaharu Aoki.

I love his egg-shaped packaging.

 The Pantone-colored chocolate bonbons.

Who would not kill for an ultra chic library of chocolate bars from Bouillet-Lyon?

Or super elegant tablettes from Jean-Charles Rouchoux

I loved these witty macaron boxes from Arnaud Larhrer.

 Salon du Chocolat 2011 was an homage to maitre chocolatier Robert Linxe of La Maison du Chocolat - the first to bring Parisien couture design to chocolate in 1977.

In the end it's all about how the chocolate tastes in your mouth no matter what the design.

 We're all 5 years old when confronted with incredible delights the annual Paris Salon du Chocolat offers.

 Now I'm listening to Graham Robb's completely engaging and informative History of Parisians - the perfect intimate backdrop to a trip to Paris.

Bonjour All French Chocolatiers!