Card of the Day - 2026-04-12

Chocolat Menier Bon Voyage
Chocolat Menier [trade : chocolate : O/S - Paris, France] "Le Tour du Monde" / around the world - second series (1956) 109/120

After leaving Mexico, we motored on down through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

The stretch of road from Costa Rica was slightly different as it was constructed by the American Army Corps of Engineers, who were suddenly worried about access to the Panama Canal should war affect that region. It was started in 1941, just after America had joined the hostilities. 

Then we carried on into Panama, and hit a big problem, for the Pan-American Highway ends, abruptly. At one time it was even shorter, ending at Canita, but it now ends at a town founded in 1638 by Spanish missionaries as San Jerónimo de Yaviza, rather a lawless area at that time, even a fort, constructed in 1760, only lasted for twenty years before it was overrun by the indigenous population. However, this extra construction of the road became more and more awkward, and the men were forced to give up, in fact for many years the Pan-American Highway petered out as a dirt track, and abruptly ended in the middle of nowhere. However more recently this has been upgraded and it is not such a strange ending for such a mighty road.

There was another reason why they stopped, though, and that is something known as the Darien Gap. Now this card is not named as the Darien Gap, but it has many of its characteristics, for the area is remote, impassable, except by canoe, as it is a system of deep waterways and dense rainforests. It is also very dangerous, for it not only marks the border between Panama and Colombia, but the border between North and South America, and because of that it is one of the most likely places that migrants attempt to get through, or are convinced by a trafficker that it is possible to do such a thing. We do not know, and will probably never know, how many people attempt this journey, or how many people make it, but we are fairly sure that those who make it are very much less that those who start out, and are never seen again. 

This set is a far cry from the early chromolithographs that we usually associate with Chocolat Menier. 

Now if you are trying to complete it, do bear in mind that it is known by several titles - "Bon Voyage", which appears at the very top of the reverse, and simply means have a good trip - "Grand Concours "Le Tour du Monde" en 120 images", which is the large text right in the centre of the reverse, and which means the grand around the world competition - and "Les Aventures Fantastiques de Jacqueline", which is in tiny text just above that, and means the fantastic adventures of Jacqueline, though I have no idea who Jacqueline was and have yet to spot her on a card.

The one we picked is simply because there was a map/wallchart, drawn by J.B. Jannot, and that was entitled "Le Tour du Monde - en 120 images - Grand Concours du Chocolat Menier".

Now if you find one of these, and they are not particularly rare, you may be wondering why there are spaces for only the first three cards, number one just above Karachi, number two slightly above and to the right, and number three just above La Paz. However, most of the wallcharts you will find have something missing, that being a panel right across the bottom below the map, which is split into 120 little boxes, in which you were supposed to write the location on those numbered cards, and then presumably, detach the panel and return it. And as for the three "cards" on the map, they relate to questions that were on those cards, for there is a place to write them in too, along with a third part, where you had to write down "parmi tous les lieux ou est passee Jacqueline, quels sont les 5 lieux ou vous aimeriez aller?" - or among all the places she has been what are the places you would like to visit? There was also a section for you to write a slogan, in under ten words, - which I have not fathomed out yet.

Another thing that I was told is that you had to stick the cards in these little boxes, not write in the names - this was something I discounted, as it would have been too unwieldy, and also how could you stick one in between two others already there, when each is but a small box? But this may be partially correct, as if you look at the reverse of our card it is perforated, at a point which corresponds, on the front, with being below the large number in the black box and the pink oblong with the wording. The map was 29.5" x 43", so, as these are quite small cards, would have been a possibility.

And whilst fathoming that out from a variety of sources, I found Jacqueline, who turns out to be a small, sweet, little girl, who was used in their advertising as a kind of mascot, and whose first appearance came in 1893, when she was depicted writing on a wall with a piece of chocolate. 

As for a list, well I can start, with 

  1. en AVION Paris-Le Caire
  2. en TRAIN 
  3. en AVION Le Caire-Stanleyville
  4. en AUTO de Stanleyville a Banalia et dans la Foret Vierge
  5.  
  6.  
  7. en AUTO dans le Foret Vierge jusqu`a Beni
  8.  
  9. en AUTO Routshourou - Kysengi
  10. en AUTO Kysengi - Costermansville
         9 and 10 make a scene together, half on each card
  11.  
  12.  
  13.  
  14. en BATEAU Kigoma - Albertville
  15.  
  16.  
  17.  
  18.  
  19. en TRAIN Livingstone - Johannesburg
  20. en AVION Johannesburg - Nairobi
  21.  
  22.   
  23. en TRAIN Tel Aviv - Jerusalem
  24. en AUTO Jerusalem - Bethleem
  25. en AUTO visite a le Mer Morte et ou Jourdain
  26. en AUTO Jerusalem - Baghdad
  27. en AUTO Bagdad - Babylone
         26 and 27 make a scene together, half on each card
  28. en AUTO Babylone - Ur 
         this may show Jacqueline, surprised by a snake
  29.  
  30. en AUTO Kournah - Bassarah
  31. en AUTO Bassarah - Karatschi
  32. en AUTO Karatschi - Bombay
  33. en AUTO Bombay - Peshawar
  34. en AUTO Peshawar - Kaboul
  35. en AUTO - de Kaboul a ? (Enigme No.1)
  36. en AUTO Kaboul - Peshawar
  37. en AUTO - ? (Enigme No.1) a Kaboul
  38. en AUTO Peshawar-Delhi
  39. en AUTO Delhi - Indore
  40. en AUTO Indore - Oudaipour
  41.  
  42.  
  43.  en AUTO du palais du Radjah a Agra
  44.  
  45.  
  46.  
  47.  
  48.  
  49.  
  50.  
  51.  
  52.  
  53.  
  54.  
  55.  
  56.  
  57.  
  58.  
  59. en AUTO Goudiraknayapura - Colombo
  60.  
  61.  
  62.  
  63.  
  64. en BATEAU Jong-Kong - Canton 
  65. en BATEAU Canton - Hong Kong
  66.  
  67. a PIED l`ascension du Fuji-Yama
  68. en TRAIN Tokyo -  Yamada
  69. en TRAIN Yamada - Tokyo
  70. en AVION Tokyo - Formose
  71.  
  72. en AVION Formosa - Manille
  73. en AUTO Manille - Baguio
  74.  
  75. en AVION Manille - Zamboanga
  76. en BATEAU Zamboanga - Badjermassim
  77.  
  78.   
  79.  
  80.  
  81. en AUTO visite de l`Ile du Bali
  82.  
  83.  
  84.  
  85.  
  86. en TRAIN Sydney - Rockhampton 
  87. en BATEAU Rockhampton - Port-Moresby 
  88.  
  89.  
  90. en GOELETTE Iles Gilbert - Iles Fidji 
  91.  
  92.  
  93.  
  94. en AVION Papeete - San Francisco 
  95. en AVION San Francisco - Santa Fe 
  96.  
  97. en AVION La Nouvelle-Orleans - Miami 
  98.  
  99. en AVION Fort Churchill - Mexico 
  100. en TRAINEAU un tour dans le Grand Nord 
  101. en AVION Miami - Fort Churchill
  102.  
  103. en AUTO Mexico - Pahuatlan at retour
  104.  
  105.  
  106. en BATEAU excursion aux Iles San Blas 
  107. en BATEAU un tour dans le Panama 
  108. en VOILIER Panama - Iles Galapagos  
  109. en VOILIER Iles Galapagos - Panama 
  110. en AVION Panama - Quito 
  111. en AVION Quito - Manaos 
  112. en AVION Manaos - Quito 
  113. en AUTO Quito Santa Helena ou retour a Quito 
  114.  
  115. en AVION Lima Cuzco 
  116. en AUTO Cuzco - ? (enigme No.3) et La Paz 
         115 and 116 make a scene together, half on each card
  117.  
  118.  
  119. en TRAIN Santiago - Buenos-Aires
  120.