Gourmet Chocolate Museum in Paris is Choco-Story
When a Paris museum offers a guide for children to follow, adults should take it. Whether it is the audio guide for children or a simple piece of paper with stickers, take it.
The Choco Story is told on three floors of le musée gourmand du Chocolat (Chocolate Museum) in Paris. It follows 4,000 years of chocolate history from its spicy variety of ancient civilizations to the modern sweet variety once it was introduced to Spain and developed for the palettes of Europe.
The museum demonstrations, panels and videos are multilingual. The special kitchen demonstration on how chocolate tablets are made invites a tasting after. The explanation panels in the museum are provided in French, English and Spanish. The video presentation is in either English or French.
The visit becomes very active when you have to look for specific items. The “Choclala is Fun” paper is available for children (and adults) to match a sticker with the number on the panel. At the end of the visit, a complete sheet equals a chocolate surprise.
On my visit, a grandmother was visiting with two grandchildren. They went to downstairs, but returned shortly; one of their panels was empty and before they could win their surprise, they had to find that panel. We helped each other solve the mystery of the missing numbered panel.
Seeing a museum from a child’s view is a great way to visit the Chocolate museum. It forces the adult and the children to really look at many of the displays and makes the visit fun. The museum is full of objects and history.
As chocolate became an industry, machines were invented to make it available to the masses. Cups and saucers went through design changes. You had to be inventive to keep a mustache clean while drinking chocolate! Imagine your biscuits and cup sliding off the saucer! Thus, someone designed the “trembleuse”. These and multiple other chocolate-related designs are displayed in this wonderfully lit and entertaining museum.
Choco-Story is a sweet museum and worth a visit for a consolidated history of chocolate and pralines, moulds, anecdotes, tools, recipes, advertising and collections of chocolatiers, cups and half-dolls (read more about half-dolls). Plan on one to two hours for your visit.
Le musée gourmand du chocolat – The Gourmet Chocolate Museum – Choco-Story
Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry is at 5 p.m.) – the visit lasts about 1 1/2 hours
The museum is closed on December 25 and January 1
28 bd Bonne-Nouvelle 75010 Paris
Telephone: 01 42 29 68 60
Métro: Bonne Nouvelle or Strasbourg Saint-Denis
Bus: lines 20, 39 or 48 (stop: Poissonnière-Bonne Nouvel or Porte Saint-Denis)
Handicap accessible
