Easter Chocolate in Paris - Why do the French Have Bells?

What are The 4 Traditional Chocolate Shapes for Easter in France?

Traditionally, the four most common chocolate shapes seen in France during this time are: Easter eggs, bells, hens/chicks and fish.

These beautifully crafted sculptures adorn the windows of bakeries, pâtisseries and chocolateries. While the variety of eggs alone is enough to make our mouth water, it's the significance behind the bell-shaped chocolates that makes French Easter celebrations.

Each year, animals feature: bears, cats, dogs, lambs, pandas, pigs, ducks, mice and bees. It's often a circus!

Mini Chocolate Fish - Fritures

French chocolatiers offer a wide selection of chocolate fish and seafood shapes called fritures, perfect for celebrating Poisson d'avril on April 1st. They garnish the insides of the bigger Easter eggs or are sold in sachets to eat 'comme ça', as is.

If you're in France, ensure you have a stock of them
for 1st April, Poisson d'avril.

Parisian Chocolate Easter Eggs

In Paris, chocolate Easter eggs remain a popular choice, symbolising the Easter Sunday Resurrection and the emergence of new life.

High-end chocolatiers and confectioneries showcase a variety of egg designs, from elegant and artistic to fun and whimsical themes.

Again this year, high-end chocolate boutiques, confiseries (candy shops), pâtisseries to top hotels have created their eggs from simply chic, amusing, to popular characters, or impressive giant artistic sculptures.

Jacques Genin normally goes wonderfully wild with a vivid, brilliant lacquered look for his masterpieces with more fish and hens to choose from.

Now Jade Genin continues her father's chocolate traditions with her own chocolate shop on l'avenue de l'Opéra - just next door to Cédric Grolet. Spot blue-themed Easter eggs, elephant sculptures to simplistic little eggs with flat hens on top.

Looking for low glycemic index chocolate eggs? Well the Éclosion is a perfect choice for diabetics (types 1 & 2) in Paris at Les Belles Envies - see more in my article on Pâtisseries for Diabetics in Paris.

Why are there so Many Chocolate Chicks and Hens in Paris?

During the 40-day Christian tradition of Lent, meat or eggs were not allowed to be eaten. Nevertheless, hens continued to lay their eggs! So by the time Easter arrived signalling the end of Lent, there were so many eggs to be used.

Chocolate versions simply symbolised them, plus the rolling of the eggs. Modern chocolate chicks are in the windows of Alain Ducasse around Paris, plus Patrick Roger always has pretty lifelike chicks (poussins).

Many hens are garnished with miniature eggs and fritures - either plain or with praline. Hens are featured everywhere really.

Love pralines? Head to Pascal Caffet, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, aka the King of praline, using hazelnuts from Piemonte. See much more in my article on his art.

Meanwhile, here's an idea for a chocolate hen. Make this lemon Easter cake (gluten free with almond flour) and have fun decorating it with macarons and mendiants.

Annual Limited Edition Easter Eggs in Paris

Pastry chefs from Paris's luxury Palace hotels release their limited edition chocolate sculptures for Spring (in February). Such creations include spectacular works of art, some animated, but are only available to order for a limited time.

Here are just a few examples this year from the top pastry chefs in Paris:

• Chef Maxime Frederic (Cheval Blanc) has come up with a Notre Dame bell and for 2026 his Belle Epoque inspired balloon;
• After Chef Matthieu Carlin's butterfly Easter Egg last year, his 2026 'egg' is a nod to Place de la Concorde's lamps (Hôtel de Crillon);
• Chef Anne Coruble has an impressive red sunflower (Le Peninsula);
• Jordan Talbot's Easter egg this year is inspired by his favourite regional dessert, the Paris-Brest (La Réserve);
• Naraé Kim's Mimosa Egg his now replaced by her Eclat d'enfance with childhood memories of an egg revealing many inside layers (Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme);
• Chef Timothy Lam's 2026 egg is an imperial beehive (Shangri-La, Paris).