Happy Easter, everyone!

France is an extremely multicultural country, with all the major religions well-represented and — as far as I can tell — all coexisting quite comfortably. But regardless of their faith or beliefs, there is one thing everyone enjoys this weekend: Chocolate!

We returned to Rue Daguerre on Friday to shop for our Easter dinner groceries and some other pantry staples we would need for the weekend ahead: fruit, veggies, eggs, paper towels, etc. Here’s a little tidbit I learned during our 2018 trip to Italy: European grocery stores don’t refrigerate their eggs.

Our first stop was “No Pain No Gain”, a pun on the French word for bread (pain). This is becoming our favorite bakery and we stocked up on croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast, wedges of quiche for lunch, and — of course — an assortment of pastries for Easter dessert.

Next, we headed to the butcher shop where we scored this cute little lamb loin roast. The butcher spoke no English, but my “kitchen French” came in handy in that conversation as we debated a roast versus lamb chops and whether or not we wanted a marinated loin.

Next, it was a stop at the greengrocer, where mom HAD to have one of these enormous artichokes.

We also picked up some lovely white asparagus to go with our Easter Lamb.

Our final stop was the chocolate shop, La Mere de Famille (The Mother of the Family). The first thing that hit us as we entered the shop was the heavenly smell of deep, dark, chocolate. Then, we were drawn in by the beautiful displays of chocolate bunnies, turtles, bears, roosters, pigs…you name it, they had it in chocolate and beautifully packaged.

Next were the colorful packages of wrapped chocolate eggs.

The clerk offered us samples, which, of course, we accepted. It would have been rude not to, right?

The shop also had a full case of handmade chocolates — truffles, nougats, cream and fruit filled, as well as a gorgeous pastry case.

We resisted the temptation to buy one of everything and instead purchased a dark chocolate bunny filled with chocolate ganache. That bunny will be enjoyed, I guarantee it.

Our Easter feast turned out to be a success. Here’s our main course: Roasted loin of lamb with mushroom and red wine sauce, oven roasted new potatoes, white asparagus with warm Bearnaise sauce and a fresh fruit compote. And all the ingredients came from the Rue Daguerre market shops.

We were so full after dinner and pastries that we decided to hold off on sampling our chocolate bunny. So he will live to see another day, perched on the sideboard in the dining room.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.