Part Three - Éclairs, Tarts and Ice Cream…Oh My!

      Our final quest for the “best…in Paris” is the holy grail of desserts—ice cream.  At its best ice cream is a silky smooth, joyful marriage of milk, cream, sugar and eggs with other natural flavorings such as vanilla beans, chocolate, fresh fruit or nuts; then lovingly stirred and reduced in temperature to varying degrees of consistency.  In a city renowned for opulent desserts ice cream is the pinnacle of its culinary decadence— the higher the fat content the richer and smoother the taste sensation.
     Pascal Le Glacier’s ice cream is described by Paris Notes as “nothing short of spectacular”. Located in the charming upscale section of Passy, the western most section of Paris within the city limits, we again started our journey on foot.  Walking past the Eifel Tower, the Champs-Elysèe and the Palais de Chaillot we finally came to Pascal Le Glacier on 17 Rue Bois-le-Vent, nearly 7 kilometers (4 miles) from our flat on rue Petit Pont.  Much to our surprise and dismay Pascal Combette’s highly touted ice cream parlor was closed for vacation!  Not to be thwarted for a taste of the best ice cream in Paris we trudged back to our flat, consoled ourselves with a glass of wine and forged a new plan.  After sorting through the myriad of reviews on the internet we created list of ice cream makers highly touted by others. 

    

For three days we walked to points north, south, east and west tasting a variety of creamy mélanges that others deemed the “the best ice cream in Paris” on the internet.  Thankfully, we finally discovered La Maison Berthillon on the Isle Saint Louis.  No sooner did we taste a mouthful of their luscious mango ice cream we knew we found what we were looking for— the best ice cream in Paris!  Each mouthful delighted our taste buds with the richness of milk, cream, sugar and eggs.  As we savored the creamy smooth texture of their glacer la crème, flavored with tender morsels of ripe mango, the disappointment of Pascal Le Glacier being closed after such a long walk evanesced into the sunset.  Our quest for the best ice cream in Paris was now fulfilled on the picturesque Isle Saint Louis with one scoop of Berthillon’s scrumptious ice cream.