Chocolate Overload

Conversation that took place last night between me and one of my flatmates (translated from French):
"I want to go to the Salon de Chocolat tomorrow, to spoil myself (pour me gâter)"
He wrinkles his forehead in confusion. "se gâter?"
This is the verb used to describe a spoiled child (enfant gâté). I search my vocabulary for an alternative. "to indulge myself (pour m'indulger)?"
"To be indulgent means to be lenient when you're supposed to be punishing someone."
"Okay, so how do the French describe the act of giving one's self over to excessive pleasure?"
"Excessive pleasure? There is no such concept in France."

This cultural exchange was indeed confirmed by my experience today at the Salon de Chocolat. Filling an exposition hall at the Porte de Versailles, this collection of over 100 exhibitors was a stereotypically French spectacle of chocolate, alcohol and excess. For an entrance fee of 12 euros, I was admitted to a seemingly endless array of presenters, most of them providing free dégustations (tastings) of chocolate, truffles, nougat, pralines, marshmallows, macarons, pain aux épices, and other artisan confections. In the center of the hall, a stage with live music and dancers paid tribute to the cultures of South American countries from whence chocolate originates.

For two hours I reveled in the experience, savoring more unique transformations of chocolate and sugar than I had ever known existed. After about two hours I suddenly reached a saturation point, feeling repulsed by the mere idea of consuming more chocolate. The Parisians, on the other hand, were still going strong - pulsing in frenzied crowds around vendors who, since it was the salon's final day, were suddenly dropping their prices. One popular booth was selling foie gras-chocolate baguette sandwiches (seriously, people?). Another distributed cups of molten chocolate-passion fruit ganache.

The day's highlights were as follows: the aforementioned chocolate-passion fruit ganache, cannabis-flavored truffles, dark chocolate with star anise, pistachio-green tea nuggets, chocolate-olive oil-marzipan confections shaped like green olive leaves, an Italian muscat wine, and chocolate-covered raisins previously macerated in rum. Ouf.