Pierre Marcolini

We ran out of coffee yesterday, so we met at the Borough Market Monmouth to buy some more of our favourite beans, but first we sat down for some expertly prepared café au laits at their cosy wooden table, where once again we wished we were munchy enough to have their bread, butter, and jam buffet:

On the way to the tube afterwards, we walked through a very strange sight, right in Borough Market:
I wonder what film set these sad-looking figures belong to? They looked very lifelike from a distance, and with the right lighting, could look absolutely real. We took the tube north, to another greenspace that has been on our list of places to go, but to which we'd not yet been, Highgate Wood, which turned out to be lovely, reminding us of the inner paths of Vancouver's Stanley Park.
Highgate Wood is part of the Capital Ring, a 115-kilometre circular walk around inner London that we've often encountered on our explorations of the city.
We read for a while, watching the occasional person (and dog) pass us by,
and enjoying the idyllic view immediately above our bench. After we emerged from the north end of the wood, we walked on a few high streets in Muswell Hill, which turned out to be a very nice neighbourhood with a pleasant feel to it--yet another place that makes us realize something we rarely forget: London has so many places to explore!
After dinner, we started digging into our box of Pierre Marcolini chocolates, and I have to say that they are the BEST CHOCOLATES I'VE EVER HAD. Intense flavours (including origin chocolates, infused chocolates, chocolates with nuts, and chocolates with caramel), wonderful chocolate, exceptional presentation, and, for the spectacular quality, not all that expensive!

Pretensions aside, Marcolini is one of the few chocolatiers who can truly call his chocolates artisan, and all the care and attention is evident in every heavenly morsel. I know I'm just going on and on, but even though his shop, chocolates, and packaging are all beautiful, I quite honestly didn't expect the chocolates themselves to be that much better than others I've had, and I'm shocked (in the best of ways). From now on, I'll be sure to visit Pierre Marcolini whenever I'm in a city that has one of his shops, and if you consider yourself a chocolate-lover, I highly recommend that you do the same!