Emily In France Exclusive 🇫🇷 5 Parisian Valentine's Day Plans
From the desk of an expat.
Generally speaking, the French approach to holidays is far more subdued. Christmas is more about the meal than it is about the presents, and fêtes like Halloween and Valentine’s Day generally slip by with little more than a whisper. The holidays that do take the French by storm tend to be a bit more food-focused, like Chandeleur (crêpes), Mardi Gras (oreillettes), and Epiphany (galette).
Still, with every passing year I spend in France, I notice people paying more attention to more Hallmark holidays. Valentine's Day specifically seems to translate to pricey prix fixes at restaurants and a whole lot of fancy chocolate. The former sounds like my idea of a nightmare: cramming into a restaurant with a host of couples dining out because they feel like they should, paying way too much for food that probably isn't as nice as it is any other day of the week.
(The latter, however, I can get behind.)
If you find yourself in Paris this Valentine’s Day, I recommend that you do something simple for dinner, like noodles from Taverne de ZHAO or quiches from an award-winning traiteur like Maison Vérot. The true pleasures of Valentine’s Day in Paris aren't found on a table but rather on foot. And I promise, it’s just as delicious.
From cultural excursions to tasty treats, here are the five things I recommend you do on Valentine’s Day in Paris.
Check out some Valentine’s chocolate offerings
Parisian chocolatiers typically pull out all the stops twice a year: on Easter and on Valentine's Day. And there are a few artisans whose creations have got me pretty excited this year.
William Artigue (30 Rue Yves Toudic) is perhaps my favorite Parisian chocolatier, thanks to his seasonally-driven approach. (Check out my other faves in this piece I wrote for Bonjour Paris). For Valentine’s Day, Artigue has collaborated with artist Virginie Dahmane to create a gorgeous flower filled with vanilla ganache, vanilla caramel, and Provençal almond marzipan flavored with Italian orange blossom. I always love Artigue’s marzipan creations, so I’m sure this will be excellent, and since it’s designed to share, it’s perfect for the holiday.
Julien Dechenaud (11, rue du Paul Bert) is another personal favorite of mine, and he’s created a few new offerings for Valentine’s Day, including a velvety heart filled with praline and vanilla ganache or a bicolor "broken heart" with passion fruit ganache and hazelnut praline. They all look delicious, but I'm particularly tickled by the daisy, where each petal is inscribed with a phrase from the French version of "he loves me, he loves me not."
In France, the game is more nuanced, with choices like “a bit,” “a lot,” “passionately,” “crazily,” or “not at all.” Dechenaud has inscribed each petal with one of these options, filling each with a different praline. It appeals both to my love of cultural quirks and praline in general, so it’s kind of perfect.
In each daisy, you get the following: Pas du tout (black sesame praline), Un peu (hazelnut praline), Beaucoup (almond praline), Passionément (crêpe praline), and A la folie (pistachio-gianduja praline). The pistil is filled with coconut praline and lemon-ginger confit. He’s also added a saying I’ve never heard used – Plus que tout (more than anything), which he’s filled with buckwheat praline. I can't eat buckwheat lest I break out in hives and my throat close, but I’m sure I can get someone to eat that petal for me.
At Chocolaterie Chapon (69, rue du Bac, 75007), the chocolate mousse bar is an all-year-long delight, with five different choices of single-origin mousses to sample. They range from Ecuadorian to Venezuelan, with cacao contents from 75 to 100%. I can think of nothing more romantic than picking two to share with your valentine.
Visit Paris’ best-loved museum
The Louvre may be known for the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory, but it should come as no surprise that Paris’ biggest museum is also rich in romantic works. Some of my favorites include Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, a sculpture by Antonio Canova whose tension lives in the empty space between the lovers’ lips, or the entirety of the Salle des Cariatides, a room completed during the reign of Henri II emblazoned with loads of details in honor of his favorite, Diane de Poitiers. And of course, if you take the secret entrance through the Sully wing, you’ll be able to glimpse where 12th century stonemasons signed their works with a carved heart that long lurked under the moat.
Take a romantic walk through the Louvre with your honey (or let me unobtrusively lead you to the loveliest spots on one of my museum tours), then head to Le Garde-Robe (41 rue de l’Arbre Sec, 75001) to discuss your favorites over a glass of natural wine and a cheese board.
Get a Valentine’s Day cheese board
I guess some people don't find cheese all that romantic. You must forgive me, for these people are definitely wrong – in fact, I’ve written an entire novel-length love story set against the backdrop of cheese. So I've got some opinions regarding which five are the most romantic.
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