As you reach the old centre of Lausanne, you are greeted by far too much choice in terms of shops. There's Ladurée and its famous macaroons, the plush 'supermarket' Globus and almost a zillion shoe shops boasting Italian designers. If you catch this area on the right (or wrong, depending on what kind of person you are) day, you will also get to experience the market... Mangos, turkish delight, fruit pudding, cordial and home made jam are just a few of the options available.
This chocolate shop may not really stand out from the exterior, but it is potentially the best and at least the most famous chocolate shop in town, according to locals and David Leibniz. The chocolate here comes in all shapes, sizes and varieties. There's dark chocolate with chocolate nibs, with almonds, orange, dried fruit, milk chocolate, white chocolate with dried strawberries, mixed nuts, and so many more flavours. These bars are rustic in appearance, roughly broken. When you buy them they will put them in a pretty bag though, which will make them more than presentable as a gift. There are also numerous truffles and chocolate dipped dried fruits available. I think the slabs represent better value, costing only a little more than the industrially made lindt and frey bars in the supermarket. You can also choose the quantity, which is good for someone on a budget.
I opted for the chili dark chocolate and dark chocolate with pistachios. I haven't yet tried these or given them as a gift, hence why I am holding back a star, but I found the packaging, variety and look of the chocolate so appealing that I thought it warranted at least 4 stars...
The lady serving was very polite and helpful, asking how much I wanted to spend and carefully weighing 2 small slabs to check that it was less than 5 Swiss francs worth. I may be back to buy some of the white chocolate stuff as a present for my boyfriend. read more