Vicki Lesage, Author: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Berthillon

I've been craving good ice cream for a long time. In my neighborhood, the 12th arrondissement, decent frozen treats are hard to come by. Which is weird, since the French do ice cream so well.

Berthillon, Paris's best ice cream

But there are very few places you can just walk up to and pick up a cone or cup of the frozen goodness:

1. Our local park. The scooped ice cream looks meh, and that's only if the place is open. Its hours seem to be Tuesdays 11:30-11:35, so I tend to miss the brief window it's available.

2. McDonald's. I have to admit, their ice cream is pretty awesome. They've got these new parfait things to die for and they FINALLY, after years of me wishing upon a star for it (apparently that works!), have Oreo McFlurries. But I didn't move to Paris to get my ice cream from McDonald's. At least not for ALL of my ice cream expeditions.

3. The local kebab shop. It's OK if you gagged reading that - I did, too. The kebab shop near me sells pre-packaged Ben & Jerry's, which you can eat in the soul-sucking darkness of the restaurant, or you can eat it on a nearby bench, right next to the aromatic neighborhood drunks.

Needless to say, I was thrilled when Adria suggested we get ice cream at the famous Berthillon on Ile St. Louis. You know, for research and blogging purposes, of course.

The shop is charming and is exactly what I love about the quaint shops on Ile St. Louis. To fully experience everything Berthillon has to offer, I figured I should go all out and get two scoops plus chocolate sauce plus whip cream. I didn't know they'd be throwing in the cookie too. Well done, Berthillon.

Berthillon Ice Cream Shop: Chocolate and Vanilla Sundae

I ordered chocolate and vanilla, something too boring to order in the US when you have options like Double Chocolate Brownie and Cookie Dough to choose from. But French ice cream, and Berthillon in particular, is so rich and creamy that a simple vanilla (or French vanilla as we'd call it back home) or chocolate is divine.

I don't think I dripped any on Stella's head.

Berthillon Ice Cream Shop: Me trying not to drip ice cream on Stella's head

If you're ever in Paris, particularly during the sweltering heat of July, be sure to pop in to the wonderful Berthillon ice cream shop!

Berthillon Ice Cream Shop: Inside the Shop

Another View

Fellow American writer in Paris, Adria J. Cimino, is co-hosting the "Paris in July" event this year and has invited me along. She and I are writing about similar themes throughout the month, sharing our different perspectives. Here's her view of our trip to Berthillon, thankfully with no shots of me with chocolate on my face:

We all know that Paris is the place for pastry... but on hot summer days, we're feeling more like something cold, light and refreshing. That means ice cream. But not ordinary ice cream. I'm talking "Berthillon," the ice cream shop that is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. (With a new flavor called the "60" – vanilla and passion fruit with poivre de Timut.)

Read the full post here

Paris in July: Musings on the City of Light

This post is part of "Paris in July," an annual Paris-themed blogging event created by Karen at A Wondering Life and Tamara at Thyme for Tea. Join in the fun and check out their sites for awesome posts about the City of Light, contributed from bloggers around the world!