The Drôme chocolatier achieved a real feat on the occasion of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris. This chocolate work is on display from this Friday in the hall of Terminal 1 of Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport
On the eve of the inauguration of Notre-Dame de Paris (five years after the fire of April 15, 2019 and the pharaonic reconstruction of the cathedral, involving more than 250 companies and 2,000 craftsmen), Valrhona unveils its creation: the cathedral reconstituted in chocolate. A gourmet building of 2.20 meters long, 1.50 meters wide and 1.40 meters highvisible from this Friday morning in the hall of Terminal 1 of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. The Drôme chocolatier created this work for an operation with a commercial partner.
A work of astonishing precision
The design was not simple: “The first thing we did was to call on an architect” says Thierry Bridron, the executive chef of the Valrhona school who worked with a former chef of the school, Baptiste Moreau. “We needed the dimensions, we needed the measurements, and above all we needed someone to digitize all these figures for us“The Tandem company took care of the dimensions and the Hydroprocess company took care of the cutting with pulsed water.”Our role was to pour chocolate into plates measuring 400 mm by 600 mm, to bring them to Châlons-sur-Saône. And then, with the digital files, we cut out like a model, we cut out all our chocolate bars. Bulk, we cast around 600 plates. And we made all the elements of the model which we brought back to Paris. And once we had all the elements, Baptiste Moreau, the school team, started gluing all the pieces together, sanding them, rubbing them, smoothing them.”.
-3000 hours of work to make…two cathedrals
The creation of the chocolate cathedral required approximately 1,500 hours of work, but it was necessary to do two hours because there were two backups in the event of a problem. In the airport, a scenography was installed to highlight the building which weighs approximately 80 kilos. And to ensure the stability of the chocolate, it will be a little cooler for those who are going to take the plane at terminal 1 at Roissy. “We lowered the temperature, yes” said Thierry Bridron smiling. “We had asked for a maximum temperature of 21 degrees and so we realized a few days ago that it was more like 24-25. So we asked them and they accepted without any comments. At the same time as I tell you this, it makes me funny because I tell myself that the French pastry shop and the Valrhona school are managing to lower terminal 1 of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle by 4 degrees. You realize, it's magical”. The chocolate cathedral on display in the lobby of the long-haul terminal is expected to cause a sensation among tourists from around the world and the image will go around the planet. Last detail: this work is obviously edible, but given that it will remain exposed until the end of January, it will lose its aromas, the cocoa exposed to the open air will alter in taste.
