Choclatine and Adventures

My best friend, Holly, and I had many adventures together two weeks ago. Some of them were planned ahead of time, some were thrown at us without our chance to give a "Nay!" and some of them were planned on the spot. All of that is bound to happen when best friends spend 72 hours together in one week.
It all started when I met Holly at her place on our way to our first adventure. But before we left the house, she had me open her birthday present to me: the Neil Armstrong biography, First Man, and the Rachael Ray book, $40 a Day. This Holly girl knows me very well. Anyone who knows me in the slightest will know why I appreciated the first book, and as for the second book, that one proved that she knows me better than I know myself. It's no secret that I love Rachael Ray recipes, but I never gave a thought to spending a dime on her because most every recipe you could ever need is for free on her web site. But when I opened up $40 a Day I realized why it's so valuable to have one of her books. Not only does this book have delicious and for the most part easy recipes, but it's also a travel guide for your mouth! The book features cities around the world and the best restaurants in them to get great food at a great price. FUN fun fun. Holly knows I LOVE to travel and that I LOVE food, so mix the two with Rachael Ray, and wala! a perfect birthday present for Hayley!
Our first adventure together was dessert/lunch at a native French couple's cafe called Choclatine. Holly's been talking and talking about this place for the last six months, so I was jazzed to finally be able to try it with her. Holly has studied three years of French, so I quite enjoyed witnessing her jibber-jabber in the French language with Hugo, one of the owners of the cafe who treated Holly like an old friend because of her frequent appearances in his store. Holly ordered us two cups of hot chocolate and two raspberry tarts with chocolate mousse.


My goodness, you guys, this was the first hot chocolate I've ever tried that was worthy of the name. You see, I've always been a huge fan of the idea of hot chocolate, but I'm almost always severely disappointed upon my first sip of a drink by that name because it either tastes like hot water with a hint of cocoa dusting, or it's basically hot sugar water. My hopes were raised upon hearing Kim Archer's description of her hot chocolate from France: she said it tasted like a melted candy bar, the way hot chocolate SHOULD taste. At Choclatine, the hot chocolate was WELL worthy of the name. And the thick dallop of homemade whip cream on top added the perfect touch to the already practically perfect drink.
Oh, and I should mention that after preparing our drinks and treats from behind the counter, Hugo served us our orders himself! Did I mention that his wife's name is Sabrina? Isn't that perfect? Those are just the names you would want for a French couple that owns a chocolate cafe.
Holly and I spent about an hour at Choclatine, savoring our treats, catching up with each other's lives and LAUGHING. Before we left, we ordered some truffles to go. We decided to try their chili pepper truffles, because ever since watching Chocolate, I've been immensely curious about chili pepper chocolate. Holly had never seen the movie but decided to trust my enthusiasm and get that kind of truffle also.
We drove to Malibu, set up camp on a perfect spot at Zuma Beach, laid down on our blanket and tried the truffles.
They were SO good, totally worth it, I would totally get one again, and again and again and again! Later that evening Holly described to her parents the experience of biting down into one of the chocolates like this: "Mmmmm, chocolate....fiesta??"
The sensation was pretty much the same as the one you get when you bite down into delicious chocolate, but there is an added burn and warmth in your mouth as you savor and swallow. And a slight flavor of chili pepper. But a good flavor.
Because Holly and I are crazy about SWIMMING at the beach, it surprised us both that after laying down, we didn't want to get back up again. In fact, we both fell asleep for about an hour. It was such a deep, relaxing beach sleep. We both felt so wonderful when we woke up. We decided to take a picture.
After sitting and talking for a bit, she decided to treat me to a Starbucks "for my birthday." Yeah right. The drink was wonderful and she was so sweet to buy it for me, but "for my birthday?" Please. Everyone who knows Holly knows that ever since she started working there, she cannot go a day without Starbucks. I even asked her how often there is a day when she doesn't get her Starbucks fix. She raised her eyebrows, pursed her lips, and didn't answer. And she slightly giggled. :) I got a white chocolate mocha, for the record. That's my favorite drink there at the moment. WITH whip. You can never go without the whip.
When we got home, we helped Mrs. Schultz prepare minestrone soup made with fresh homegrown vegetables. I'm so thankful that my tastes for vegetables finally came around in the last few years, it opens up a whole new world of tasty pleasure! This soup was very good, needless to say. Before we went to bed, Holly and I watched Chocolate, in memory of our day at Choclatine.

And so concluded day one of our adventures together. There's much more to come, but it is now time for me to get ready for my first day of classes tomorrow!! Because Heather wants to see pictures and stories from Choclatine so badly, I'm posting this part now. The second installment of our time together will be posted soon, I hope!