So you want to warm your feet? Tickle your soul? Try some Parisian hot chocolate.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Cafe Angelina does a decent hot chocolate. As do Laduree, Deux Magots, yada, yada, yada.
But they pale in comparison (literally) to the DARK hot chocolate from my favorite eccentric chocolaterie-cum-cafe, La Charlotte en L'ile. Run by an American ex-pat who has a thing for woven baskets and pagan motifs, the hot cocoa here is dark, thick, rich, and much more intense than the milkier versions available elsewhere.
The place is tiny--one entry room with a display case and one room of four tables in back. When I was seated in the back one January afternoon, I was so conscious of the small space I shared with only three other tables, that I turned my phone off completely; even the sound of a vibrating phone would have embarrassed me.
That is, until the group of Italians arrived.
The front of the shop has a large case full of chocolate figurines, many made from antique molds seen hanging from hodge podge racks in the back kitchen. There is somehow room for an inviting upright piano, and a good-natured cat to lounge on it.
The pastries are good enough, but that chocolate is a bomb itself. It packs a punch, and Charlotte knows it, because it comes in a ceramic vase with dainty Japanese tea cups to sip it. You get to fill your cup at least three times. And you don't even need to ask for some water to cut the rich chocolat--she brings you a bud vase and a shot glass for mini sips.
24, rue St. Louis en L'ile / 75001 / 01 43 54 25 83
Metro: 7 Pont Marie
Comments