Mariage Frères is probably the most famous tea seller in Paris, with a menu of hundreds and hundreds of teas from all over the world. They have three salons de thé and we visited the original one on Rue Bourg-Tibourg. The salon is just as unabashedly exoticist as Ladurée's, with posters from various Colonial Expositions throughout French history. But we didn't go for the décor - we went for the tea and the dessert. Tea is served in a specially insulated pot (see below left) first designed in the 1920s and arrives already perfectly steeped by one of the white-tux-clad waitstaff. We ordered a single pot of Vanilla Imperial tea which was delicious (but which was not quite enough for three people, in case you're thinking about sharing to cut costs). We also had a crème brulée made with Marco Polo tea (a fruity blend), which was beautiful as well as tasty. As far as looks go, this salon de thé wasn't at the top of our list, and in terms of food/drink, we'll probably stick with buying the dry kind of tea in the future. But we're still glad we went, and we might be investing in one of those théières (teapots) very soon!
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Berthillon Glacier is probably the most famous purveyor of ice creams and sorbets in Paris, and you can buy their products at many locations around the city. (Our favorite place happens to be right around the corner from the Berthillon Glace salon de thé - right at the point of the Île-St.-Louis, just across from Notre Dame.) But you have to go to their salon de thé to try their tarte tatin (upside-down apple tart), and so go there we did. Louis had a scoop of raspberry sorbet with his tarte tatin (below left) while Joy ordered a moelleux au chocolat (a chocolate pastry shell surrounding melted chocolate) with a scoop of vanilla. While vanilla might sound boring, consider that this vanilla tastes nothing like that watered-down stuff we get in the US. This is real (strong) vanilla. The room in which we ate was beautiful in a distinctive, indescribable way. (Luckily there's a picture.) Final verdict? We can't wait to go back.
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Our final salon de thé for the week was Angelina, on the Rue de Rivoli. We first learned about Angelina through a December New York Times article (NYT hearts Paris so, so much), and later found out it's in just about every guidebook. The place was incredibly busy and loud, and when we go back we'll ask to be seated in the back section of the salon, which seemed quieter and more private. But we didn't care too much about the noise, at least not once our hot chocolate arrived. Called "L'Africaine" (what is up with salons de thé and imperial nostalgia?), this was hands-down the best we'd had all week, and it didn't hurt that it came with a big bowl of whipped cream just waiting to enrich an already dense liquid (you can see the deadly combination below left). We also ordered some of the house pastries, which embodied tradition with a twist. Cathy's St. Honoré (below right) was particularly photogenic, and the others were fancy-looking too. Angelina sells its hot chocolate in glass bottles so you can relive the artery-clogging experience in the comfort of your own home and without having to wait for a table.
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After five salons de thé in less than a week, we were ready to be finished for a while. At least, until our next tea- and pastry-loving visitors arrive . . .
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