#HTE

Surprisingly Appetizing Chocolate Bars Inspired by the Tile at Paris Métro Stations

Before today, the closest I had gotten to associating the NYC Subway with appetizing food was Pizza Rat and that time my friend told me she saw a man eating plastic on the E train. I’m happy to see the French have a more refined experience on their Paris Métro, or at least that’s what this chocolate packaging design leads me to believe:

What you’re looking at is three different chocolate bars designed by Paris-based design studio Noir Vif. The bars and their packaging were designed to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of the Paris regional express railway (RER) network, upon the request of RATP (the Paris public transport operator). 

Noir Vif product designers AndrÈ Fontes and Guillaume Lehoux were inspired by the various characters, colors and patterns of Briare enamel tiles that have been lining the walls of the train stations since the late ‘70s. 

Their goal with this design was to combine an object of instant gratification (the chocolate) and an object to keep as a souvenir (the small, colorful tiles next to the chocolate).

The outer packaging is almost as eye-catching as the inner packaging, featuring a peek inside to the collectable tile as well as a brief history lesson.

As someone that both eats chocolate daily and commutes via subway, this is a breath of fresh air. 

What do the most iconic subway tiles in your city look like? Show us some photos of your own in the comments section, and maybe we’ll rate them based on how appetizing they are.