Delightful Surprise in Brussels, Belgium

Delightful Surprise in Brussels, Belgium

Warning: this post contains no food picture as I was too excited and ate all props but I’m sure my Celiac and food allergy friends will love what I have to share anyway.belvas

One of my goalsis toshare not only about Luxembourg but also beyond our borders since most of us travel a lot, so here’s a little “beyond” treat to look forward to on a future visit to Brussels.

We didn’t have a specific plan for the day in Brussels other than to browse and see what we would happen upon which is something we often do when traveling. We ended up in a really interesting area of town, Les Marolles, with lots of artisan and vintage type shops. The shopping area was several blocks wide and went just under a kilometer long but more than we could tackle in one day. The main “attraction” for this area was rather large, open-air flea market with lots for treasure hunters to look through.

This area seemed very popular with tourists as we guessed by the many people holding maps and looking lost and of course a variety of languages, including English…American English no less.

We were most keen to dig around for treasures in the vintage clothing shops which we did and had a blast. It was like a walk down memory lane for my husband and me as we rehashed youthful moments with a variety of period clothing pieces.

All this is to preface what I really want to share; a delightful and quite unexpected surprise of a chocolate shop we stumbled upon. Now this wasn’t just any chocolate shop but a food allergy’s best friend of a chocolate shop!

It is quite a popular sentiment that Belgium has a wonderful reputation for some of the best quality chocolate in the world. In fact, people specifically seek it out so when we found this, we were more than thrilled.

Ok, so here it is friends, a food allergy’s chocolate paradise; Belvas Belgian Chocolate, Atelier de Chocolat. All their chocolates are gluten free including the truffles. They also have lactose free, sugar free, vegan and raw chocolates available. There are some tree nuts so be vigilant if that is an issue for you as it is for me.  The cherry on top, they are organic and participate in Fair Trade.belvas

We bought several chocolates so we could sample the flavors and textures. The chocolate was rich and creamy so texture was not an issue; they had the high quality I was hoping for. I’m not a fan of anything lactose free but honestly it was not bad and much better than other lactose free chocolate I’ve had over the years. Our favorite was the dark, raw chocolate.belvas

There were just too many to choose from so I hope to make another visit to stock up. I inquired about shipping to Luxembourg but the sales clerk wasn’t certain. I’ve emailed the company to ask about shipping but have not received a reply yet. I will update this post once I know more about shipping.

In conclusion, I highly recommend Belvas Belgian Chocolate and hope you have a chance to experience so many gluten free, allergy free choices all in one chocolate shop. You can check them out at www.belvas.be.