Founded in 1967 by Belgians Jean-Guy and Marie-Anne Roelandts, Chocolaterie de Puyricard is a manufacturer and purveyor of fine hand-made chocolates based here in Aix-en-Provence. Once a sweet luxury available only to Aixoise locals, the family-owned business has expanded significantly over the years with retail stores across the southern region and north to Paris (they also ship worldwide).
The Chocolaterie de Puyricard factory is very close to where I live, and I usually go past it on runs with my energetic Australian Shepherd. I still haven’t decided whether this is a blessing or a curse for us, as I often must restrain from veering us in for a mid-workout sampling from the boutique. Their website lists some fun – and amazingly precise – facts about the time and care that go into making each hand-crafted chocolate: about an hour-and-a-half per kilo, or just over one minute per chocolate. It’s worth the short outing from the Aix center to the commune (suburb) of Puyricard to see where they’re made, but they also have a store in town to pick out a few treats for fueling the rest of your sightseeing.