Kristina! Would you share that recipe for ice cream? I will eat anything caramel au beurre salé. In fact, I am just about to make salted chocolate caramels. If they don't work out, I'll have a sauce for some salted butter caramel ice cream.

eks-No! Are they a chain?? If so, I wish they would come to LA...

Coquelicot-I got the recipe on the blog www.davidlebovitz.com
He's a pastry chef and US expat living in Paris and has written a number of books, one just on ice cream. There are step by step instructions there on how to make the Salted Butter Caramel ice cream. His site is also where I read about Grom.
I have to say, the flavor has been voted "best ice cream EVER" by my family and friends and now they ask me if I'm making it every time I have a party.

GROM is a Turin-based mini-chain; look:


http://www.grom.it/eng/index.htm

My first encounter with Grom was on Broadway on the Upper West Side. It was instant addiction!

Canada_V - great thread! Can I ask for details about the apt you've booked?

Kristina, thanks! I have made David Lebovitz's caramel au beurre sale sauce and it was pretty good, but I'm still looking for the ultimate homemade beurre sale experience.

Coquelicot-"Sauce" or ice cream?

I think what makes the DL ice cream recipe so good is the praline that gets mixed in. There's something that happens in the freezer; the hard bits of praline "melt" in the ice cream and adds an extra bit of saltiness in with the sweet caramel.

Thanks again to everyone for their feedback and ideas

Lennyba - The apartment is www.parisabcd.com (though we originally found it through vrbo

The reason we chose it were

1) Isle St Louis location for under 1000E for the week. It is our first trip to Paris, and Isle St Louis ended up as our happy compromise location of quiet and central
2) Quiet location (courtyard rather then road) as I am a fussy sleeper :-) I originally 'daydreamed' about getting an apartment with a balcony, but decided that quiet sleep was more important to me!
3) the owner has been very quick and thorough in her responses - she was very clear on things like deposits, contracts etc. We were originally going in June 2008 but had to postpone because of an illness in the family, and she has been very accomodating - would have been no issue in getting our deposit back, but instead I asked her to hang on to it for this year instead.
4) Owner had a website - this was more when I was building my short list - I liked the ones where there was more information then just a vrbo entry. Lots of pictures and
4) King bed for us (even if it is one of those '2 twins together' my husband and I are both tall, so wanted a big bed :-)
5) Separate area for the kids, but not too separate (it has a sort of loft area, but not one of those "bed on stilts in the living room" type lofts. And a bed each for the kids with no sofa beds
6) Dishwasher and washer dryer
7) Bakery right down stairs where I can imagine that the kids will be able to go down and pick up the morning croissant and bread (one of my other 'Paris vacation' day dreams)!

Kristina - The "try Grom" tip seems like one that may be easy to convince the kids to buy into!

Thanks much! Will look forward to your trip report.

thanks lennyba - I am looking forward to the chance to write my trip report :-)

Just to throw in couple of other ideas.

Fromagerie 31, we've been there for drinks and cheese, and it was wonderful. We'd had a light lunch earlier that day, and shared a cheese plate between the 3 of us (including our 13yo son). Granted, it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, but they were very busy. At that time of day, they would have no time to give extra advice. Though visiting at the beginning of the day might work.

And I do love the idea of a cheese-tasting exploration, and can understand why a "tour" might work better. The cheese merchants at the local street markets (including the bigger one on rue Mouffetard) might have more time to provide information and tastings.

On ice cream, we've had Grom in Italy, and it's very good. The chain Amorino is also good, and has a bigger selection; they have locations throughout Paris, including at 47 rue Saint Louis en L’Ile. I prefer both over Bertillion (which I didn't love even before the Italian chains entered the picture). Just another option for your kids to try!

I liked your comment about trying out different pain chocolat. My son and I have undertaken quests to find the best macarons. Each place we find, we buy a couple of the smaller variety to try. So far, our favorites are those by Laduree.

Back to the first thread in this post asking about the wine & cheese tastings by Paris On Your Plate (www.ParisOnYourPlate.com) - we did this last year and it was really interesting and a lot of fun. You sample 12 cheeses (with multiple wines) AND learn a lot about cheese, so that if you then want to go into a cheese store, you actually know what you're talking about, have a better idea what to try and what your preferences are. In response to another comment above, you might be able to get some information in a cheese store, but not much...and only if the salesperson (a) speaks English, (b) doesn't have any other customers, and (c) is in the mood to do it!

Hi,
i've done a cheese tour with a friend on last february, delicious and great in unknown places in the city!!it was a tour by "not a tourist destination"(http://www.notatouristdestination.com/)