"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" said comic strip character Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.

To celebrate this rich and luxurious substance, the Salon du Chocolat or Paris Chocolate Show stages an annual fashion-chocolate pageant with a prestigious collection of "couture dresses" designed by talented duos of fashion designers and chocolatiers.

The event raises funds for the umbrella organisation La Voix de l'Enfant (The Voice of the Child) which includes 50 children's charities represented by French actress Carole Bouquet and French singer-songwriter Mathieu Johann.

For the 15th anniversary of the show, the pageant was presented as a fairy tale opera, made up of several tableaux on the theme of opera and music. Several French actresses and singers acted as models to designers such as Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Christophe Guillarmé and Thierry Mugler.

The Paris Salon du Chocolat, which runs until Sunday, also includes various shows by cocoa-producing countries, conferences on chocolate, demonstrations of recipes, a kids workshop and the Chocolate Awards which celebrate the top artisan chocolatiers in the world and the most remarkable chocolates.