Here is one of my favorite religious holidays of the year again. Because yes, I love the tradition of egg hunts that normally take place during this Easter season. Unfortunately, this year, events and the current situation following the Coronavirus and lockdown mean that this holiday will once again be quite different from what we are used to.
To counter the gloom, I still insisted, like every year, on writing an article around this theme that I really enjoy. Easter Sunday falls on April 4th in 2021, which gives us a 3-day weekend with the following Monday being a public holiday.
This year, this special Easter Tips article will mainly focus on my beautiful selection of Easter chocolates, because obviously most of the other events linked to Easter, such as traditional egg hunts, will obviously not take place… If you have a garden, you can still do it individually with your children, as my parents used to do with my brother, my cousins, and me when we were kids (which left me with wonderful memories).
However, this year, we can see that we are starting to get used to the situation; virtual events or those in very small groups are still being organized so we don’t let the surrounding gloom get us down!
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Table of Contents
An egg hunt with Anima
On April 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Anima is offering us an original Easter egg hunt to experience a joyful moment of sharing with the family (for children aged 6 and up)… from your living room!
On the program 
- 3 online sessions on Zoom, orchestrated live by a cheerful and experienced host on: Saturday 3rd, Sunday 4th (6:30 PM), and Monday 5th of April (11 AM)
- The goal: solve ten fun riddles to discover the hiding place of the eggs! To participate, nothing could be simpler: just have a computer and have downloaded the Zoom app (free)
Anima Easter Egg Hunt
Registration: https://www.billetweb.fr/chasse-aux-oeufs-de-paques1
Price: €10 per household
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Easter at the Roch Hôtel & Spa
The Roch Hôtel & Spa is a Parisian address that I really like and that I talk about regularly on the blog. For the Easter holidays, from April 3rd to 5th, the Roch Hôtel & Spa is ringing the bells and offering you a gourmet getaway to enjoy the spring, as a couple or with your family. A dinner, a festive brunch, and some chocolate treats created by Chef Rémy Bérerd: this is the promise of a stay that will satisfy both young and old.
Stay from €545 in a cozy room for 2 people with:
• One night in the room category of your choice on Saturday April 3rd or Sunday April 4th,
• A “Carte Blanche” dinner (starter, main course, dessert) served in your room on Saturday April 3rd or Sunday April 4th for 2 people, and up to 4 people (2 adults, 2 children) in a family room,
• Breakfast in your room on Sunday April 4th for 2 people and up to 4 people in a family room,
• A signature brunch accompanied by a Mimosa cocktail on Sunday April 4th or Monday April 5th from 10 AM to 1 PM,
• Guaranteed late checkout at 2 PM,
• Egg hunt for the children,
• A chocolate creation by Chef Rémy Bérerd,
• Access to the pool
Roch Hotel & Spa
28 Rue Saint-Roch, 75001 Paris
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The Comité du Faubourg Saint-Honoré celebrates Easter with La Maison Yann Couvreur and La Maison LaDurée
The Comité du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in collaboration with Yann Couvreur and La Maison LaDurée, is once again summoning both young and old to participate in a new challenge themed around the art of illustration: a creative and elegant 7 differences game, imagined and created in watercolor by the talented illustrator Isabelle Fregevu, depicting the prestigious streets of the Faubourg during the Easter holidays, thanks to her “pencil stroke” and her very own unique style.
These works and the game will be available to everyone on the Comité du Faubourg Saint-Honoré website on Sunday, April 4th, so that little gourmets can play while admiring the illustrations. La Maison Yann Couvreur and La Maison LaDurée will be offering delicious and gourmet gift sets. The prize draw will take place at the end of April. The winners will receive their sweets and will then be able to enjoy these exceptional chocolates with their family…
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For Easter, the MasterBox collective is recruiting chocolate tasters
The MasterBox collective was created to promote and make products from French artisans, creators, and producers accessible, notably by offering 100% made in France gift sets. As Easter approaches, the collective wishes to recruit as many consumers as possible to its initiative to save artisanal chocolate factories that have been severely affected by the crisis for the past year.
The role of these “chocolate tasters” will be to join the collective (free) and to:
- spot talented artisanal chocolatiers near you
- share their stories and products
- participate in collective tastings (the interesting part!)
- and finally promote the gift sets of the selected artisans
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A small selection of chocolates for Easter
Here is my small (obviously non-exhaustive) selection of chocolate treats to devour (or savor, depending on whether you are a food lover or a gourmet) for this Easter period, for every taste and every budget.
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Destination Planet Chocolate by La Maison du Chocolat
This year Nicolas Cloiseau, the chef at La Maison du Chocolat, is taking us into space with a capsule containing 3 chocolate heroes: Peru, Ecuador, Jamaica, a trio of fine single-origin cocoas from South America. For the occasion, the chef even created a giant Saucer Egg (UFO: Unidentified Flying Egg), a unique artistic piece, produced in a limited edition of 10 and entirely handcrafted in the workshops in Nanterre.
Each pilot (Peru pilot, Jamaica agent, Ecuador captain) of this chocolate crew consists of a molded, detailed figure, colored and decorated by hand, and placed on a crunchy chocolate bite. A real poem…
Maison du Chocolat Easter Collection
€1,500 for the 7.3kg giant egg (Limited edition piece / dimensions: L 50 cm x H 50 cm)
Easter Crew, €35 per piece of approximately 105g
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Easter at Maison Le Roux
The Maison Le Roux, located in Brittany, has been renowned for its chocolates and caramels since 1977. This year, the Easter Collection of its master chocolatier, Julien Gouzien, is inspired by the Menhirs that surround the Quiberon Peninsula. With their sleek shape, both modern and ancestral, the chocolatier sculpts a chocolate made from the best cocoa beans.
As for the more classic collection, the house also offers a Grand Cru Madagascar Easter egg (dark and milk, 250g: €45) with dark chocolate, tinged with touches of light from caramelized almonds with a gourmet relief.
Easter Maison Le Roux
Dark and Milk Menhirs: 200g for €35 and 500g for €68
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The Imaginary Creatures by Atelier C
“The Imaginary Creatures” were born from a collaboration between mijery Studio and Master Chocolatier Christophe Berthelot-Sampic from Atelier C. These creatures are delivered in a kit, and you have to assemble them yourself! It’s quite funny, easy, fast, and really very playful. I had as much fun as a child assembling my chocolate creature and I find it too cute!!!! I hope I will succeed in eating it in the end. Besides, we made a small video below of the assembly of the Creature with the favorite photographer, if you want to see how it’s done.
Composition of the “The CREATURE” box set, handcrafted in the studio, with a creature to assemble yourself, according to your imagination, and sold in the form of a “Kit” composed of:
- the body of the Creature: a 50% cocoa milk chocolate ball
- the 70% cocoa dark chocolate stele
- the 3 milk chocolate tentacles (50% cocoa)
- the 2 milk chocolate wings (50% cocoa)
- the milk chocolate snout (50% cocoa)
- the milk chocolate eyes (50% cocoa)
- a STAINLESS STEEL pastry nozzle (professional equipment)
- the instructions (1/ I seal the body onto the stele 2/ I heat the nozzle 3/ I make one or more holes in the ball 4/ I insert each of the chosen elements into the holes to create my Creature)
Atelier C also offers a “Young & Old Easter Special” workshop in its boutique to create your own chocolate Creature (€90 per person, including the Creature kit worth €65 + €25 per child).
Available at the ATELIER C boutique
123 avenue Daumesnil 75012 Paris
Price of the Creature kit: €65
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The Monbana Easter Collection
As for the Easter collection of the Monbana chocolate factory (French manufacturing since 1934), we find plenty of different gourmet products: the Croc’gourmand with a spring gift set containing a duo of Petit Croc’ milk chocolate hazelnut Gianduja and dark chocolate with raspberry cubes (€9.95); little chocolate animals to crunch (€6.90); the spring gift set to share with an assortment of Pralinéa, milk chocolate Praliz, praliné-filled eggs with dark chocolate, and dark chocolate squares (€18.50 with 345g and about 60 chocolates).
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Muriel Aublet-Cuvelier’s Secret Egg at Le Grand Colbert
The chef is teaming up this year with the Parisian restaurant Le Grand Colbert and is notably offering a secret egg for Easter, La Promesse (The Promise), in the form of a chocolate entremet. The egg is filled with an intense and light chocolate mousse, flowing salted butter caramel, a creamy filling with two chocolates, and is placed in a nest of crunchy shortbread made with toasted corn coated in chocolate and popcorn. A real gourmet treat!
The great tip: there are 10 golden tickets to be discovered in 10 of the chef’s secret eggs, which will allow you to win a dinner or lunch for 2 people at Le Grand Colbert as soon as the restaurant reopens!
Muriel’s Secret Egg at Le Grand Colbert
2 rue Vivienne 75002 Paris
Until April 5th, 2021
Price: €18 via click and collect
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Easter at Pierre Chauvet Chocolatier
An artisanal Chocolatier & Ice Cream Maker for 25 years in the Ardèche, Pierre Chauvet is also offering a “Weekend in Rome” chocolate collection this year to make us travel during these gloomy times. But as for his traditional chocolates, we find the box of 6 praliné eggs in their shells (€23.80), which are to die for!
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Easter at Comtesse du Barry
To change from the traditional eggs to hide in the garden, Comtesse du Barry offers, in addition to its classic Easter collection, an alternative for adults with its Sauternes-soaked grapes in chocolate (€9.90 for 150g) or its candied orange peels in dark chocolate (€9.90) for Easter.
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The Easter collection by the French chocolatier de Neuville
This year the trend is towards animals and de Neuville offers a beautiful range with all-chocolate dinos but also enchanted animals like Juliette the Owl or Paul the Llama (which I had received last year but which is still present in this year’s collections) that I present to you in photos below.
Otherwise, for the more classic Easter collections, De Neuville also offers large eggs, assortments of Easter “fritures” (small chocolates) and melting little eggs.
Paul the Llama in milk chocolate (€9) and Juliette the Owl (€7.90)
the little extra: French manufacturing without palm oil and without E171/E172 coloring
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The Easter collection by Révillon Chocolatier
Like every year, I am offering you a small selection in photos of the Easter collection from Révillon Chocolatier, which I have faithfully been talking about on the blog for several years. And this year, for the first time, the chocolates are 100% palm oil-free!
Révillon Chocolatier Easter Collection
Milk and white praliné little eggs without palm oil (2020 novelty – €6.99)
Pure sensation dark little eggs with a 70% Madagascar dark chocolate ganache (€4.99 per bag)
Double sensation milk little eggs with a hazelnut praliné and lace crepe shards (€4.99 per bag)
Double sensation milk little eggs with fondant caramel and a hint of salt (€4.99 per bag)
Dark little fritures (€3.99)
Gourmet bunnies with hazelnut praliné heart (€4.49)
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The Réauté Chocolat Easter Collection
This year, Réauté Chocolat (made in Mayenne) is offering an Easter collection dedicated to generosity with a traditional world revisited with elegance. On the program: chocolate eggs, bunnies, bells, or hens, filled with “fritures” and guaranteed without palm oil and with 100% pure cocoa butter couverture chocolate.
Réauté Chocolat Easter Collection
Ligne egg (dark or milk) filled with 150g of Easter fritures / price €6.60
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Fairtrade Easter with Max Havelaar
To celebrate Easter in a fairer way, Fairtrade/Max Havelaar is offering an Easter collection that helps improve the living conditions of cocoa producers and their families, fight against child labor, and protect the planet.
A great initiative that is both gourmet and responsible, because chocolates that have obtained the Fairtrade/Max Havelaar label guarantee fair remuneration for producers, improve their living conditions while preserving the environment.
Below in the photo I present to you:
- the milk chocolate dinosaur, Fairtrade and single-origin from the Dominican Republic (which unfortunately suffered a bit from transport…), it is entirely decorated by hand in the workshops of Bovetti in the Dordogne (price: €12.95 / on sale in fine grocery stores and organic shops)
- the little bunnies from the Riegelein brand made of organic and fair-trade milk chocolate with the Fairtrade/Max Havelaar label (price: €3.50 / on sale at Carrefour, Système U, Leclerc, and Franprix)
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The Le Comptoir de Mathilde Easter Collection
Like every year, the Comptoir de Mathilde offers a beautiful Easter range with chocolate animals for a small hot chocolate or even the tablets to break with the famous hammer of the brand (so liberating!!!).
Le Comptoir de Mathilde Easter Collection
The Carrot Rabbit milk Hot Chocolate to make yourself a good hot chocolate (€3.50)
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The Puyricard Easter Collection
The Puyricard Chocolate Factory is a family-run artisanal business, located in the small Provençal village of Puyricard. Like every year, the brand offers its Easter collection between molded items, “fritures,” and small eggs.
Puyricard Easter Collection
A modern-designed Puyricard hen filled with 80g of dark and milk chocolate fritures (€40)
The chocolate rabbit filled with 250g of dark and milk chocolate fritures (€87)
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The Léonidas Easter Collection
Since last year, with the arrival of the little Gold egg (marbled milk chocolate with a golden caramelized blond chocolate ganache and cane sugar crystals), the family of little Leonidas eggs has a total of no less than 20 different flavors!
Léonidas Easter Collection
The oval gift box filled with 300g of Léonidas Easter little eggs (there are 20 different little eggs): €12.90
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Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez and Melle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free, photographer's authorization is mandatory before any use
