CHOCOLAT du jour!

ALEXIA SANTAMARIA'S SWEET FRENCH STOP

Some people salivate at the perfect slice of moist cake with a thick, creamy layer of icing; others would consider selling their first-born for a hot buttery, croissant straight out of the oven or a fresh doughnut.

For me it’s always been about chocolate, and when I perused the excursion options on an Avalon Waterways river cruise from the French towns of Arles to Lyon I couldn’t quite believe one of them was a trip to my favourite chocolate maker, Valrhona. It turned out one of our Rhône river port stops was Tain-l’Hermitage, now referred to as the City of Chocolate since the famous factory opened its doors to the public in 2006. I felt a bit like a Roald Dahl character clutching an elusive golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s cacao paradise.

It was a short, and excited, walk from our boat to the factory. My newfound cruise friend, a lovely lady by the name of Jean from Minnesota whispered, “I skipped breakfast for this.” I was clearly in good company.

The first part of the tour was a lesson in tempering, resulting in our own bespoke chocolate bar. Tempering means heating melted chocolate to a certain temperature, dropping it down and then raising it again slightly before working with it. This is so when it re-hardens, it will have the perfect snap and gloss.