Cold combinations

It's ice cream season again in Paris and, if the long lines are any attestation, this stuff is to Parisians as those hideous boot-sandals are to teenage girls.

There are so many wonderful ice cream shops in Paris that I'll leave the deliberation over who's the best to the experts. (Though I've listed my favorites below.) Instead, I'd like to discuss a delicate topic: Ice cream flavor combinations.

See, in Paris you usually get two small scoops instead of one big one, and the decision of which two scoops can be very challenging. If you're anything like me, you can spend the entire 20-minute wait in line deliberating (and driving your husband crazy), selecting just the right pair of complementary (not clashing) flavors. Here are a few recent pairings:

Pistachio + strawberry sorbet (photo above)

Chocolate sorbet + cassis sorbet

Hazelnut + caramel au beurre salé

Vanilla + any berry sorbet (but kind of too easy)

Chocolate sorbet + pear sorbet (fantastic, like a belle poire Hélène)

What's your favorite ice cream, mes amis?

My favorite scoops

Berthillon

31 rue Saint-Louis en l'Ile, 4e

tel: 01 43 54 31 61

Christian Constant

37 rue d'Assas, 6e

tel: 01 53 63 15 15

Grom

81 rue de Seine, 6e

tel: 01 40 46 92 60