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Paris is always a good idea and so is French chocolate. In France chocolate is a product no less iconic than cheese and wine: the French eat 400.000 tons of it in a year! The manufacturing of chocolate in France is on the level of high culinary art, with eminent chocolatiers competing hard for the title of the best, just as top chefs do.
Chocolate is historically a royal delicacy in France. The interior of many chocolatiers in France is still replete with 'palace' details: inlaid and gilded surfaces, furniture made of precious wood. Others have a cutting-edge, modern and sophisticated design.
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You should start discovering Parisian chocolate boutiques with the stores of famous French chocolatiers. In many ways, they resemble jewelry stores, with the chocolate products sometimes almost comparable in price to gold. In return, you will get an exceptional product from a world-famous master. These boutiques sell the freshest, most delicious sweets and chocolate bars of the finest quality. A box of hand-made French chocolate will be a great gift from Paris.
In this article, we introduce ten best Parisian chocolate boutiques, where you can find "happiness you can eat." Treat yourself!
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This beautiful classic chocolate boutique in Saint-Germain-des-Prés district is one of the oldest in Paris. Amidst its art galleries and antique shops lies Debauve & Gallais, a gem of French confectionery with a rich history dating back over two centuries. It proudly calls itself the "Chocolatier of French kings" for historical reasons. Founded by Sulpice Debauve, pharmacist to King Louis XVI, Debauve & Gallais originated in 1779 when Debauve crafted the first solid chocolates for Queen Marie Antoinette to mask the taste of her medicines. This innovation led to the establishment of a chocolate boutique in 1800, quickly gaining a prestigious clientele among French aristocracy and Parisian bourgeoisie. The shop became the official supplier to Emperor Napoleon and subsequent French kings. Joined by his nephew Antoine Gallais in 1823, the brand expanded, refining its recipes to perfection. Today, Debauve & Gallais continues to uphold its tradition of excellence, offering luxurious chocolates that reflect its storied past.
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From the historic Les Pistoles de Marie-Antoinette to the exquisite Praliné Noisettes à Tartiner, each product is a testament to Debauve & Gallais’ commitment to quality and innovation. Whether you’re seeking a taste of Parisian elegance or the perfect souvenir, Debauve & Gallais provides an unparalleled chocolate experience that is both indulgent and sophisticated. Click here to find out more about Debauve & Gallais.
Address: 30 Rue des Saints-Pères, 75007 Paris
Transportation: Metro line 4, Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Opening hours: Monday - Friday from 9:30 to 19:00, Saturday 10:30 - 19:00, Sunday closed.
Jacques Genin is a talented self-taught chocolatier. He is a chic pastry chef and caramélier. His talent is recognized not only in France but also abroad. Nowadays, he supplies his sweets to more than a hundred Parisian restaurants and hotels. A perfect balance of tastes is a real miracle, especially his famous mint chocolate, pralines, and various ganaches. All of his products are made from selected ingredients and come in a signature metal box.
Jacques Genin's first and favorite creation is chocolate with mint. Mick Jagger buys himself a kilogram of this mint pleasure every time he comes to Paris.
Address: 133 Rue de Turenne, Paris, 75003
Transportation: Metro line 8 Filles du Calvaire station / line 5, 9 Oberkampf station
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-19:00, Sat 11:00-19:30 / Closed on Mondays
Alain Ducasse is a prominent French grand chef whose restaurants hold three Michelin stars. He also runs some of the best chocolate boutiques in the world. This place is a real chocolate factory with human-size machines making chocolate tiles and all sorts of sweets. Absolute bestsellers are pralines with crispy nut filling and a soft cream fondant.
The Master's personal favorite is 75% chocolate in tiles by a traditional recipe of Peru. With this recipe cocoa beans bypass the process of conching (intensive mixing of the mass at high temperatures), due to which the texture is more grainy and the taste is rawer, without the usual tenderness.
Check addresses of Alain Ducasse's chocolate boutiques in Paris on the official website.
Address: 104 Rue Mouffetard, 75005 Paris
Transportation: Metro line 7, Place Monge
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 9:30-20:00
At age 14, young Pierre solemnly announced to his parents that he would make the creation of chocolate his vocation. After more than 25 years, he has become the most renowned chocolatier in Belgium and one of the best chocolate masters in the world. In his studio in Brussels, a perfectionist chocolatier personally sorts cocoa beans and creates new tastes.
In his Parisian boutiques, chocolate is on display as jewels. Dark and milk chocolate sweets with almond pralines, caramel, and vanilla, chocolate sweets with raspberry filling and bergamot, as well as milk chocolate bars with crispy pieces of caramel are especially popular.
Pierre Marcolini has chocolate boutiques in Brussels, Tokyo, New York, and London. In Paris, there are five stores. A list of all addresses in Paris is on the official website.
Address: 35 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris (Galeries Lafayette Gourmets)
Transportation: Metro line 7 Chaussée d'Antin — La Fayette
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 9:30-21:30, Sun 11:00-20:00
Pierre Hermé was the youngest person to be named France's Pastry Chef of the Year, and he was awarded the title of World's Best Pastry Chef in 2016. He is called "an avant-garde pastry chef and a magician with tastes" for his provocative experiments with ingredients and textures. His signature best-sellers are “Choc Chocolat” - dark chocolate sweets with pralines, “Mathilda” - almond pralines, lemon zest with milk chocolate, and “Ouvre-toi” - sesame pralines with milk chocolate. Also, Pierre Hermé is the most famous producer of French macaroons of all tastes and colors, as well as colorful fruity pies and cakes.
Pierre Herme, "Kitchen's Emperor", is renowned among all connoisseurs of gourmet sweets in France and abroad. In Paris there are 17 boutiques, the full list is on the official website.
Address: 86 Avenue des Champs Elysées
Transportation: Metro line 1 George V station
Opening hours: Everyday 10:30-22:30
Gaston Lenôtre, another world-famous French chef, founded Maison Lenôtre in 1957. His first chocolate boutique in Paris had immediate success. It is especially famous for its selection of macaroons and boxes of hand-made chocolate and desserts that are elegant, delicate and fragrant. A praline with milk and almond are overjoying delicacies to treat yourself with.
Apart from developing desserts and chocolates of the finest quality, since the fifties Maison Lenôtre emerged into the biggest brigade of more than 400 chefs with five of them holding a title of "Meilleurs ouvriers de France" (Best craftsman of France). It offers culinary services for corporate and private events as well as large-scale cultural and sports competitions like FIFA World Cup in 2000.
There are 11 Lenôtre chocolate boutiques in Paris - check their addresses on the official website.
Address: 15 Boulevard de Courcelles, 75008 Paris
Transportation: Metro line 2, 3 Villiers station
Opening hours: Everyday 9:00-20:00
Hugues Pouget, the founder of Maison Hugo & Victor, chose two first names that form the patronym of the most brilliant and undoubtedly the most famous writer of French romantic literature. This chocolate boutique is famous for its commitment to only natural seasonal ingredients and the absence of any synthetic flavoring agents or colorants.
Hugo & Victor has seduced Paris with its selection of fine chocolates. Spheres filled with salted caramel, tangerine, passion, pear, and hazelnut-vanilla praline have also forged this chocolatier a stellar reputation in Tokyo, Seoul, and Dubai. Another signature creation, the famous grapefruit tart, best represents the work of the chocolatier and his love for citrus fruits. Their eclairs and especially almond pralines chocolate bars with candied fruits are mouth-watering.
Address: 40 boulevard Raspail, 75007 Paris
Transportation: Metro line 10 Sèvres-Babylone station
Opening hours: Sun-Thur 10:00-19:00 / Fri 10:00-20:00 / Sat 9:30-20:00
If life is a box of chocolates, it should be one from Patrick Roger.
Patrick Roger is one of the most respected and famous chocolatiers in the world. He is the winner of the 1994 World Chocolatier Competition and the holder of the title "Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2000" - "Best Manufacturer of France." Both his truffles and pralines, as well as gigantesque chocolate sculptures, are masterpieces. Provencal caramelized almonds in chocolate, walnut pralines, glazed chestnuts, and exquisite hemispheres with delicate lemon filling are absolute to try.
The chain of Patrick Roger includes nine stores (all addresses are listed on the official website), one outside of France, in another chocolate capital, Brussels.
Address: 3 Place de la Madeleine, Paris, 75008
Transportation: Metro line 8 Madeleine station
Opening hours: Every day 11:00-19:00
This chocolate boutique is a sweet paradise. Here you will find the highest quality hand-made chocolate, nougat, and handmade marshmallows with many different flavors, like caramel, rum, or coconut. We recommend you to try chocolate candies with a unique taste of green tea. It is located right next to the Eiffel Tower, and it is a perfect place to buy some traditional French sweets like mendiants, orangettes, and calissons and bring it as a gift from Paris to your loved ones.
Address: 27, Avenue Rapp, 75007 Paris
Transportation: Metro line 9 Alma-Marceau station / RER C Gare du Pont de l'Alma station / bus 42, Monttessuy station
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-13:30, 14:00-19:00 / Closed on Sundays and Monday
The oldest chocolate shop in Paris, operating to this day, was opened in 1761. The family that owns the boutique for centuries has kept the old authentic interior: tiles on the floor, wooden shelves, and a vintage counter. The fact that the chocolate boutique exists today speaks of the quality of manufactured goods: here, each product is selected and prepared with special care.
But it's not just the history that makes this an unmissable spot. Behind its antique storefront is a selection of sweets, as Vogue writes, 'to send even the most level-headed among us into a childlike state of sugar-mania', with pralines, little chocolate oranges, and almond truffles.
Address : 35, rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris
Transportation : Metro line 7 Le Peletier station
Opening hours : Mon-Sat 9:30-20:00 / Sun 10:00-19:00
Author & Photos O'bon Paris