October is a busy month for chocolate in Europe and my travels include three countries and three major chocolate festivals in two weeks conveniently scheduled back-to-back. Is there such a thing as too much chocolate? I guess I am going to find out.

I will be tweeting (@chocophile), blogging (on TheChocolateLife.com), and uploading photos to Facebook (username claygordon) just about every day, and then posting a special summary of my trip when I get back - with new photographs and stories just for subscribers. Readers of The Chocolate Chronicles are invited to relax in front of their computers or smartphones and follow my travels.

The adventure begins on October 10th in London for UK Chocolate Week. Not only is there a conventional trade fair on the 10th and 11th, but London's chocolate makers open up the doors of their shops with special offers and tasting events to entice avid chocolate lovers from the 12th through the 18th. It's been a long time since I've been to London and I am looking forward to meeting some colleagues there as well as the top chocolatiers of the London chocolate scene which now boasts many world-class talents.

On October 13th I head to Paris for the Salon du Chocolat Professionnel and the finals of The World Chocolate Masters competition. The Salon du Chocolat is a huge event, attracting over one hundred thousand visitors over the course of several days. I chronicled Paris extensively on my last trip there in 2004 but Paris is one of my favorite cities to visit and many new chocolatiers have opened shop since I was last there.

On October 18th I head to Perugia for Eurochocolate. I've never been to Perugia before, though I have tasted a lot of world-class Italian chocolate. I remember fondly visiting Venice, Florence, and Portofino on my last Italian trip and I am looking forward to visiting Perugia for one of the biggest chocolate festivals in all of Europe.

Then, on October 21st or 22nd I head back to London before I return home to New York on the 23rd.

Itinerary

Itinerary