My Bubble: L'amour du Chocolat Suisse

While planning our recent trip to Zurich, I kept coming across the 'Lindt Chocolate Factory Tour' but still I was not interested in checking out the chocolate side of Zurich. Yeah we have all heard of Lindt chocolate but spending CHF40.00 for a visit around the chocolate factory isn't exactly my cup of tea. Instead, we signed up for a last minute tour to Mount Titlis which is one of the tallest peaks in central Switzerland, at 3238 meters or 10625 feet. It costs more at almost CHF150.00 but at the end the tour, it was well worth it! More about Mount Titlis later.

Now back to 'chocolat' and I'm sure many would still remember the movie of the same name back in 2000 starring the charismatic Johnny Depp and the beautiful French actress, Juliette Binoche. 'Chocolat' is kinda like a tender fairy tale, full of humour and depth delivered by colourful characters in its plot where a small chocolaterie quickly begins to change the lives of the characters involved. Wow, imagine the wonders of chocolates on people!

I may not have tasted any French chocolates on my recent trip but I believe Swiss chocolates will attest for the same experience. Despite being a big No-No for a diabetic like me, if you have tasted these fresh handmade chocolates you wouldn't want to have anything to do with Cadbury's or Hershey's or Guylian's anymore! That's my betrayal for the love of the Swiss chocolate ... I guess it's the magical wonders of l'amour du chocolat Suisse.

Both lo kong and I had our first encounter with Swiss chocolates in Lucerne where we had a short stop on our return from Mount Titlis. Confiseur Bachmann just stood out right in front of us as we got down from the bus although it can also be found almost everywhere in Lucerne. Upon entering, we came across their displays of sandwiches and bread. Then we saw the macaroons and a delightful selection of cakes. The sandwiches, bread and cakes were so inviting, our minds were taken off chocolates until we caught sight of the chocolate fountain flowing with their Swiss milk chocolate. I believe this is one of the main attractions in the store apart from the 1 metre tall Lucerne landmark, a water tower made totally from chocolate sitting right in the middle of the store.  I must forewarn about the prices but as long as you don't do any conversion, you'll be in for plenty of treats.

Confiseur Bachmann in Lucerne or Luzern

Tourists and locals formed several queue at the cashiers and as time didn't permit much browsing around, we made away with only 2 croissant sandwiches, a BIO Rüüdigs Brötli (a sunflower seed small bread) and a packet of ready-packed pralines. Too bad we totally forgot to capture their photos as our attention was thwarted by our hunger pangs then!

On our free and easy day back in Zurich the next day, we visited the famous Bahnhofstrasse right opposite Zurich Hauptbahnhoff which is Zurich's main railway station and the largest in Switzerland.  There we unhesitatingly popped right into Confiseur Laderach, another popular Swiss chocolatier.  This time round, we had all the time in the world to check out the variety of chocolates since it was also raining outside.

Here are what we saw for you to see which more than made up for not visiting the chocolate factory.  I hope you'll as easily develop l'amour du chocolat Suisse.