From L'Orangerie it was a quick walk over the pea-gravel of the Tuileries to Angelina; the legendary tea room located at 226 rue de Rivoli.
I questioned the logic of having hot chocolate on a day where the temperature was hovering around 22 Celsius, but I reject so many touristy things that I thought I should stick to my plan.
After waiting about 10 minutes for the dozen or so people ahead of me, I was seated and then able to see what a lovely place Angelina is. Founded in 1903 Angelina is an elegant place decorated in a genuine Belle Epoque-salon-style with lots of gold leaf, sconces, murals and wall-sized mirrors. Although everyone's toting a camera it still didn't feel natural to take pictures inside a restaurant, but that confidence would come later.
My aim was to have the house specialty - a Chocolat Africain and the Mont Blanc dessert. The Chocolat Africain is the thickest, darkest, hot chocolate I've every had. It was deliciously deep and dark and stayed true to its reputation of almost being thick enough to stand your spoon in it. Maybe with the accompanying whipped cream it would. Wisely, it was delivered with a glass of water to cut its cloyingness.
Then I attempted to scale the Mont Blanc confection; a base camp of meringue, filled with whipped cream (Crème Chantilly) and crested with chestnut puree vermicelli. I would have had that anyway whether it was the house specialty or not because I love meringue and chestnut - together, I had died and gone to heaven. It was so rich I felt full after eating only half. I had to force myself to finish it.
Angelina (sans apostrophe 's') has a gorgeous shop as well, at which many people were shopping for their heavenly confections instead of lining up for their tea.
This Sunday afternoon Angelina was a conveyor-belt of tourists but the tearoom managed to retain its dignity. The hot chocolate and the confection cost 13.80 Euros or almost $20 Canadian. I enjoyed it. I'm glad I was able to cross that off my list.
I strolled confidently through the arcades of the rue de Rivoli and over the bridges of the Seine for about an hour. Despite my sugar rush, and the Sunday crush of people, I headed for the Temple of Ice Cream, Berthillon. Berthillon's flagship store is on the Ile Saint-Louis and when I finally reached the island, it was like something from the Midwich Cuckoos. On this warm day many other bistros were selling the much-revered Berthillon Glace too and each vendor hosted a line-up 20 deep. MUST HAVE ICE CREAM!
When I reached ice cream heaven at 31 rue St Louis en l'ile, there were two lines consisting of over 40 people in total. I found it ridiculous. "Faddism" is not cool. Remember the Soup Nazi? Maybe it's because I'm a cat who walks by herself but I find this lining up for treats to be demeaning. I'd done it once that day at Angelina and that was enough. I'd tasted the famous ice cream the day before at the cafe with Mr. Smiley. I gave Berthillon a pass.
Instead I wandered into an gorgeous mustard-yellow candy store on the same street called La Cure Gourmande.
I was lured inside by a sample of something strawberry-ish. After browsing amid the pyramids of rainbow-bright confections I came out with an assortment of nougat and boiled candies called Berlandises each with a surprise burst of fruit at the centre. I intended on saving them for my girlfriends at home but after sorting out my days loot, I ate them on my hotel bed.
For dessert I had the Toblerone from the mini bar.
A bientot!
Pictures of Angelina from theGroupe Bertrande website www.groupe-bertrand.com/angelina.php
Pictures of La Cure Gourmand from their website www.la-cure-gourmande.fr/
