The first thing that struck me as I moved around the Paris Salon was the international diversity of attendees at each venue.  It drove home to me what a worldwide pleasure chocolate has become.  As I watched sizeable groups of Japanese, Chinese and other Asian visitors move through crowds, I remembered a two-month tour through Southeast Asia not too many years ago when I would have given anything for a chocolate bar.  I don’t think that would be true today. 

I stopped by several Asian chocolatiers to sample their wares and was especially impressed by a sublime white chocolate and green tea combination.  Until that moment, I would have sworn I didn’t care for white chocolate.  Later I learned it had been carefully formulated for its health properties by the award-winning Japanese chocolatier Hironobu Tsujiguchi.