While strolling down Rue de Saint-Jean my husband and I saw a little double storefront for the Choco-Musée Érico. Chocolate? And a museum? Awesome. We opened the door and entered a warm haven where the air was heavy with the scent of chocolate. We wandered the tiny museum in a bit of a cocoa stupor, looking more at the pictures that show the history of chocolate than the French descriptions. We also played voyeur and watched through the little window in the back where you can see real live chocolate makers at work. (I'm sure they love the tourists pressed up against the glass all day gawking at them.)
Feeling we could thus check off the museum box for the day, we stepped into the boutique in the next room, a happy place with much chocolate for sale. I like to stretch my dollars and my calories, so I went for a hot chocolate as opposed to a single candy. I chose from a chalkboard menu of several varieties of increasing caoco strengths. For those so inclined, cinnamon or hot pepper can be added.
We retired with a little silver platter holding two steaming mugs of cocoa back to the museum where a few bar stools looked outside. And then, because seeing, smelling and drinking chocolate isn’t enough, a nice young lady came around offering chocolate samples.
That all museums could be this lovely.
Related Stories:
· Choco-Musée Érico [Official Site]
· Eating Quebec Map [Jaunted]
[Photo: Dana McMahan]
