Berthillon
 

We are leaving for Paris this Sunday. One thing I wanted to do this time was get ice cream at Berthillon, but I read somewhere that it may close the month of August. Their website is in French, so I can't read it. Does anyone know if it is closed?

There are numerous stores and kiosks selling Berthillon ice cream so you will still be able to get it in August.

From their website:
This summer we will close from Monday July 21 was Tuesday, September 2 inclusive. Please note that only our shop is closed, our dealers remain largely open and are supplied throughout the summer.

So -- it looks like you can still get the ice cream (thank goodness!) just not at their shop.

By the way -- if you google berthillion it will provide the link to their website and next to that it will say "translate this page." It's not always perfect and the translations can be pretty funny but you can usually understand it.

By all means try it if you find it, but I can't believe I'm alone in being unimpressed by Berthillon ice cream, and if you end up leaving Paris without having scored a scoop, don't think your trip was a waste.

I have a vivid memory of sitting in the Tuillieries, with my feet up, one hote summer day, and watching Parisian after Parisian walk by my eating Hagen-Dasz ice cream.

We had it when we were there last year and it was good but no better than our local brand here in Houston - BlueBell.

I agree; don't lose sleep over not getting your Bertillon ice cream, sweetie darling. It's very nice (I like the framboise best), but it certainly isn't extraordinary.

Aren't there a couple of Bertillon ice cream stands around the city? I could swear I saw one on the Champs Elysee.

Thin

The main shop on Ile Saint-Louis takes holiday for a month or so every summer but there are at least two stands that sell its icecream on the same street.

A lot of cafes have Berthillon ice cream. Happy Travels!

Berthillon can be had all over the place. First time we had it was at a chocoloate shop on the Champs Elysee named Maiffret. IMHO, the vanilla is the best I've ever had.

>> IMHO, the vanilla is the best I've ever had.<<

I can believe that. The French have a way with vanilla, to be sure!

I'll try that the next time, instead of chocolate.

I also don't think Berthillon is that great. It is ordinary imho. May I suggest Amorrino instead? (sp)?

I liked it - but then I like simple flavours like cassis, apple, peach etc, and light textures, like sorbets. If you are more a fan of the (vile, in my opinion) 'Rocky Road', lumps of cookie dough, marshmallow blobs style of ice cream, no, it won't suit you at all....

zeppole, I am totally a chocolate person, but my daughter loves vanilla, so I tried hers. It was luscious.

Ohhhhh, yes, of course! If you don't like Berthillion, well then -- humph! -- you must have infantile taste buds, and want cookie dough in your ice cream. Sniff!

Not exactly.

It's not all that special for people who've eaten a lot of great ice cream all around the world. Like I said, Hagen-Dasz is a huge hit in Paris with Parisians (as are several Italian gelaterie). They'd rather not eat Berthillon and the company has had no success in exporting it.

dmlove, sorry! That above post was in response to RM.

I always knew there was an upside to traveling with kids. Getting to eat their ice cream as well as my own!

I am an ice cream aficionado and eat it a lot -- and you can eat Berthillon at lots of cafes in Paris, they serve it at one I hang out a lot. I would never go stand in line with all the tourists on the island to eat it. It is, after all -- just ice cream. I wouldn't plan a vacation around it. It's good, but nothing noticeably better than many other brands I've eaten. There is really only so much you could do with ice cream, you know.

The shop on the island where tourists stand in line a long time does have more flavors, of course, as most cafes who serve it as a regular thing on their menus may only have 4-6 flavors. I think where I go has chocolate, vanilla, honey nougat and maybe one other.

I agree that there's nothing exceptional (except the price and small scoops) about Berthillon ice cream.

One day, waiting for l'Opentour near Jardin du Luxembourg, I bought a chocolate ice cream cone from a boulangerie with an ice cream cart out front. Awesome! And, an almost too generous portion.

There's much better ice cream in Paris...my favorite is Martine Lambert, 192 rue de Grenelle, especially the salted butter caramel. Another is Le Bac a Glaces, 109 rue de Bac.

For amazing gelato, try Pozzetto, 39 rue du Roi de Sicile.

Not sure about August closings, but all have websites.

Berthillon *used* to be exceptional. When it hadn't yet turned into an industry. There was a time when their ice-cream was sold only in the shop. There were long lines, but there was a reason for that.

Nowadays, every other bar in a 1 km radius sell those ice-creams, and they don't seem to me to be anymore remarkable. Good yes, but nothing really extraordinary.

It may not be the best in the world, but where else can you get PRUNE flavor? For the record, it was served at a cafe near the Musee Marmottan and it was delicious!

I also still dream of the cassis sorbet I ate from street carts when I did a study abroad program in August many years ago.

Rhy- don't worry! You are sure to have your ice cream needs very well taken care of in Paris!

Zeppole, if it's ok for you to say:-

'I can't believe I'm alone in being unimpressed by Berthillon ice cream, and if you end up leaving Paris without having scored a scoop, don't think your trip was a waste.'

then surely it's ok for me to say that I do like it and that my taste is for the simpler stuff.

This board gets more and more like some sort of on-line road rage every day. Over and over again someone posts a disparaging or sarcastic remark about someone else's taste, advice or views, and yet when they get a response in kind, they seem mortally offended. If you don't like people taking issue with your views, then think about how you've worded them and how they might come across in the first place. Sniffy responses are usually written AFTER sniffy comments!