Bruges, Belgium: The Chocolate Line

Waiting to order in chocolatier Dominique Persoone's Chocolate Line shop in Bruges

Markt Square at the center of old Bruges

Bruges, Belgium has the reputation of being "a perfectly preserved medieval town." Its streets and canals are home to a beautiful assortment of handsome old brick and stone buildings. Everything does indeed look to be well-preserved. While many of the town's older buildings date from the 16th to 18th centuries (a bit later than the medieval period) the truth is, some of Bruges' ancient looking buildings were built between the 1850s and the 1930s. No wonder they look so "perfectly preserved!"

17th century buildings on the Groenerei Canal

Even knowing that much of Bruges' architecture is neo-medieval or neo-gothic does not prevent me from loving this charming town. Its historic center is picture perfect. I visited Bruges twice in the past few months, and was just as charmed by its quaintness the second time around. Newer buildings blend beautifully with the ancient brick structures next door, and the beauty of these architectural gems is often reflected in the water of a canal, giving the viewer a double dose of lovely.

There are some unique souvenirs to be found here. Handmade lace is a specialty of Bruges. This Flemish town has been a famous lace-making center for hundreds of years, and it is home to a school that has taught the art of making lace by hand since the 1700s. Visitors can visit the school- the Kantcentre (Lace center)- to see lacemakers using tiny wooden bobbins to weave their intricate designs. There are many lace shops in the town selling lace souvenirs, but only a few sell the pricey "real thing," handmade in Bruges. 

Godiva Chocolatier in Bruges

My favorite "handmade in Bruges" souvenir is edible: Belgian pralines, the most delicious chocolates imaginable! In the USA pralines are a different type of candy, made from nuts and sugar syrup. Belgian pralines are filled, chocolate coated confections. In the USA you can buy pricey Godiva pralines, which are very good (Godiva originated in Brussels). But the pralines that are handmade in Bruges are so much better! 

Soleil, with passionfruit
fondant filling (my favorite!)

Bruges has more than 50 chocolatiers, so choosing where to buy the "best" pralines is a challenge. On my first trip to Bruges I bought samples of pralines from a number of different special chocolate shops that I'd read about on the internet. All of them made their pralines on the premises. I could buy as few candies as I wished, choosing from an amazing variety of fillings. A shop called The Chocolate Line was well-named. It was small place with a line of customers that went out of the store and into Simon Stevinplein, the square it borders. The people in line didn't seem to be tourists. They knew exactly what they wanted, making rapid fire selections from the stacks of exotically named pralines in the store's glass cases: Bollywood, Piaf, Lac d'Amour, Soleil…

The Chocolate Line's praline kitchen

Waiting in line was fun, because we could watch the chocolatiers creating pralines in the kitchen at the back of the shop. There was no doubt that these chocolates were freshly made! I chose 5 pralines, stealing ideas from the frenchman ahead of me who seemed to know what he was doing. These were excellent choices, each one indescribably delicious! I bought excellent pralines from other chocolatiers in Bruges, too. In my opinion, The Chocolate Line's confections were the absolute best.

Dominique Persoone's praline ballotins proclaim that "Chocolate is Rock 'n Roll!"

At the end of my second visit to Bruges I returned to The Chocolate Line's queue. I was on a mission to bring back ballotins of the best pralines Belgium has to offer to some special people back in the USA. I'd made a list of the chocolates I preferred (on my previous visit I picked up a product brochure with descriptions in English). It was amazing how fast a young girl was able to fill my order, carefully placing each selection in the purple-lined ballotins. 

These precious chocolate treasure boxes are going to make some of the folks back home very happy!