A la mere de famille, 35 rue de Faubourg-Montparnasse, Paris

The company describes it as the oldest chocolate shop in Paris.

It began as the grocery store of Pierre-Jean Bernard, a young épicier from Coulommiers. In 1807, after the death of her husband, Marie-Adélaïde Bridault took charge of the shop while raising four children. According to her contemporaries, she was a charismatic and beautiful woman, as well as an energetic entrepreneur who expanded the range, reputation, and profits of the shop. She was particularly proud of her children and had a painting in the store of herself surrounded by them. She became known as la Mère de Famille, literally “mother of a family,” a French expression meaning mother. The name stuck.

The current owners, Étienne Duffy and his wife, Hélène, have continued the tradition. Their logo features a portrait of Hélène surrounded by her children.

Except for the lighting and refrigeration, nothing has changed since the 19th century at À La Mère de Famille: dark green woodwork, gold lettering, a tiled floor, old counters, jars, and cabinets containing, besides chocolates, such old-fashioned delicacies as rochers pralinés, florentins, orangettes, caramels, pâtes de fruits, nougat, guimauve, dragées, gommes, bêtises de Cambrai, bergamotes de Nancy, négus de Nevers, calissons d’Aix, palets Montmartre, and the delightfully named Folies de l’Écureuil (“the Squirrel’s Follies”).