Crème Glacée

On Tuesday a friend and I had our histoire du livre exam followed by a disastrous dinner at CROUS (student cafeterias throughout the city where you can get a wholesome meal for 3 euros - here's a link). To make it up to ourselves, we decided to get ice cream! Because we were at St. Michel where many of the restaurants are overpriced and/or of dubious quality, we decided to go with Amorino, a chain of gelato shops where the vendeur or vendeuse will shape your scoop into a flower. It's also novel for France because you get to pick as many flavors as you want, even for the small size. We took our frosty treats two blocks down to the river and sat on the quai watching the bateaux mouches go by and reminiscing.

Here is a list of some of my favorite ice cream places in Paris, in no particular order:

Berthillon - Yes, it can cost you about a day's salary (who am I kidding, what do I know about salaries?) for two itty bitty scoops, but I'll be damned if there's a richer chocolate ice cream out there. Their white chocolate and caramel are also too exquisite! Don't even get me started on the sorbets -- sanguine or framboise, anyone?
Original location: 29-31 rue Saint Louis en l'Ile 75004 Paris; available at many other restaurants and cafés.

Amorino - Gelato from an international chain. It's less expensive than Berthillon at 3,50 for a small coppa or cornetto. Amorino's great when you want some creamy goodness that's less familiar than the ubiquitous Haagen-Daz and cheaper than Berthillon. And, did I mention the flowers? They also tend to hire cute vendeurs, especially at the one by Bastille.
Address: 4 rue de la Roquette 75011 Paris, other locations throughout the city and Europe.


Le Bac à Glaces - At this tiny little shop in the 7th arrondissement, a scoop of one of their finely crafted ice creams or sorbets will set you back 3,50 (for much higher quality stuff than Amorino's). Yesterday's parfum du jour was pain d'epices with real bits of gingerbread inside! There's a little park full of joyous Parisian children and their stylish mothers right next door. Settle yourself on a bench for some of the cutest people watching in Paris!
Address: 109 rue du Bac 75009 Paris

Martine Lambert - Le Chef is responsible for introducing me to both Martine and Le Bac. This one's a bit pricier but also very, very good. Plus it's on one of those cute little pedestrian shopping streets.
Address: 39 rue Cler 75007 Paris