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CHOC TO THE SYSTEM
I tried Paris’ biggest pain au chocolat during the Olympics – it weighs 1kg, costs £31 and has 3000 calories
See how much of the 1kg monster pastry SunSport could devour
TEAM GB’S Olympic athletes are on a strict diet to make sure they are at their absolute peak as they chase gold medals in Paris.
Thankfully, the same rules don’t apply for us journalists out in France covering the summer festival of sport.
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So SunSport took full advantage to do some key Olympics investigative work.
We wanted to find Paris’ BIGGEST and MOST EXPENSIVE pain au chocolat - and boy did we find it.
Well to be honest, you couldn’t really miss it.
Located within the Galeries Lafayette boutique shopping centre is the luxury patisserie Philippe Conticini, one of their five sites in the French capital.
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And there they sell their world-famous pain au chocolat XL.
Weighing in at just shy of 1kg, the beast takes a whole day to make, measures approximately a foot square and contains more than - wait for it - 3,000 calories.
Oh, and the giant pastry costs a staggering €37, or roughly £31.
Award-winning Conticini has been dubbed “one of the greatest pastry chefs of his time” - and his blockbuster pain au chocolat certainly steals the show among the plethora of delectable sweet treats available at his stores.
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The Galeries Lafayette branch sells out all four of their XLs every day, with some so desperate they even pre-order to make sure they don’t miss out.
So SunSport were over the moon to be able to get their hands on one - and it literally needed both hands.
SunSport's Joshua Jones learns breaking ahead of its Olympics debut at Paris 2024
What's happening today at The Games?
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY...
TODAY'S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Freestyle BMX world and European champ Kieran Reilly will be aiming to add the Olympic title to his collection (12.40pm).
Team GB’s men and women will both be in contention in the rowing quadruple sculls finals (11.25am).
BRITS TO WATCH
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix - daughter of First Dates star Fred - and Lois Toulson go in the 10m synchro diving final (10am).
In the hockey, Team GB’s women know a win against South Africa is vital after starting with defeats to Spain and Australia (9.30am).
Commonwealth bronze medallist Jemima Yeats-Brown begins her -70kg judo campaign, two years on from losing her sister Jenny to brain cancer (9.20am).
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
The all-star USA men’s basketball team, featuring LeBron James and Steph Curry, face Olympic debutants South Sudan (8pm).
The 100m men’s freestyle final could be a classic with Tokyo champ Caeleb Dressel, new 200m gold medallist David Popovici plus Brits Duncan Scott and Matthew Richards all in contention (9.15pm).
And Jessica Fox could win her second gold of Paris 2024 if she defends her C1 canoe slalom from three years ago (4.25pm).
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
The beach volleyball is always spectacular viewing at any Olympics but this year even more so - because it is being played at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
There are matches all throughout the day from 8am to 9pm.
Click here for all the events taking place at Paris 2024 today.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
In the baking 34C heat in Paris, a mammoth pain au chocolat was not top of my wishlist for a cool, refreshing spot of lunch - nor was it great to aid any attempts at acheiving something resembling something of a ‘summer bod’.
But needs must and all that, I ploughed on and dug in feeling very much like Bruce Bogtrotter as he demolished his chocolate cake in Matilda.
At the eye-watering price tag, I expected something extraordinary - and was not disappointed.
The flakey exterior, the puffy dough on the inside and then sizeable chunks of rich 66 per cent rare pure criollo chocolate melting in the mouth - and the Parisian sunshine.
But as sensational as the pain au chocolat was, it was simply impossible to complete the monumental challenge of trying to eat the whole thing solo.
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I can only apologise to my sweet-tooth father but, honestly, that thing could feed a family of four for a week.
In reality, I could barely manage to make a dent in the deluxe treat before feeling overwhelmed with a combination of the volume of food devoured in rapid time, the chocolate mess all over my face and what can only be described as the sickly effects of the pain au chocolat sweats.
As I made my way for a much-needed lie-down, though, one local Parisian stopped us, perplexed by the freak of culinary nature in my hands and gladly accepted our offer for a bite or seven - before hilariously revealing he cannot eat gluten.
“C’est Paris,” he exclaimed with a mouthful of the good stuff.
Speaking of which, this is indeed Paris and with dozens of sports going on across the city, it was time to get back to covering some of the actual action - but strangely enough, just watching the gymnastics and freestyle BMX was enough to make my belly feel funny.
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But with the addition of breaking for this Olympics and surfing, skateboarding and climbing in recent Games, could ‘giant-pain-au-chocolat-eating’ races be on the cards for the future?
Maybe - though I’ll stick to reporting on it rather than competing, please.
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