Biarritz & Bayonne

by D. Prinz
June 10, 2007

Biarritz Hot Chocolate

June 10, 2007

The quantity of chocolate in Bayonne more than compensated for the lack in Bilbao. We arrived on Sunday, so we found the chocolate shops closed, sadly, but we did discover an Italian brand of hot chocolate at a local creperie.

We planned to hit the three chocolate museums and as many chocolate shops as possible. Blue signs throughout Biarritz guide guests to the Planète Musée du Chocolat, now run by the owner of the local Henriet chocolate company. It is also possible to tour their factory just south of Biarritz. This museum tells the story primarily of Bayonne chocolate . They produced their own video which shows several of the old documents related to local chocolate. We liked the very old “family” recipe of Henriet, dense clusters of chocolate covered orange rind with almond slivers from the store. The formal tour includes chocolate tasting as well, but since the video had broken, we did not have to pay nor did we receive free samples. We enjoyed meeting the owner of the museum and his daughter.

(BTW–The French call moulage what Belgians call praline.)

In Bayonne/Biarritz we visited several very elegant stores–

We made sure to get to the Puyodebat Chocolate “Museum” with its mini-display of chocolate-making, chocolate pots, molinets, and other chocolate memorabilia. The mini-museum primarily provides also a venue for selling their chocolate.

puyodebat

In Bayonne we sampled as often as possible. We certainly would not want to miss the hot chocolate at Cazenave, founded in 1854, with the foam beaten by hand, known as mousseux, and the whipped cream/chantilly accompaniment:

More tasting and exploring followed at the Atelier du Chocolat de Bayonne Museum. This one year old museum was hard to find in the “old Jewish section” of Bayonne chocolate, in St. Esprit, though directions are in the local brochures and probably on line. The shop provides samples and discounts on some of their items. This time the hot chocolate came with an added flavor choice, so Mark selected orange: