Craving the sound of crickets, Pastis and lazy afternoons in the shade, you might not sense all that when you treat yourself to a box of Garrigue by La Maison du Chocolat yet you will definitely taste the Mediterranean on bite at a time.

Garrigue is the Summer 2010 Chocolate Collection created by Gilles Marchal, their chief alchemist.

I just took one bite of the only milk chocolate selection, Olbia, Apricot confit under a milk chocolate robe. I am partial to darker hues...

For pure pleasure, nothing beats Soledad, rich dark chocolate ganache.

Could there be Provence without olives and nuts?

Definitely not, so we get Amelo, almond paste pure and simple wrapped in a thin layer of dark chocolate.

Olives come our way via Oulivado, a Praliné of almonds and nuts with Béruguette olive oil from the Château d’Estoublon and black olives, named “Óulivado” after a book of Provençal poetry written by Frédéric Mistral.

I close the chapter with Limone which as you might have guessed is nothing less than dark chocolate ganache infused with lemon zest.

My tasting sampler was a box of 10 (2 of each flavor).

The US Online store offers the same 10 piece Box for $20 and also a 30 piece Box for $60.

You can also purchase Garrigue in the Paris, Cannes, London, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong brick and mortar stores of La Maison du Chocolat.

Enjoy, one box at a time!