Being born in Nebraska in the 1960’s, the idea of “designer” anything may be beyond me. But living with Melinda, let alone living in France, I think I’m getting lots of opportunities to learn. This afternoon Melinda and I ventured out in order to experience the beautiful springtime sun. We ate a delicious sandwich in the center of town, next to the fountain at La Place Royale (go look at this link and you’ll see a photo of the fountain – we literally were sitting at the foot of it, what would be smack dab in the center at the bottom of the photo). Having soaked up some sun, and having watched a man next to her eat some fancy frozen treat, Melinda had a hankering to finally try what we’ve been told is the best fancy frozen treat in the world. Off we went to the shop.

Again, I’m from Nebraska. I was born in the 1960’s. My family ate something called “ice cream.” We bought it in the freezer section at a place called “Safeway.” It came in a “carton.” We took some out with an “ice cream scoop.” If I was lucky, I got an “ice cream cone” (otherwise I ate it from something called a “bowl”). Those are the terms I know.

The shop we entered looked more like a Starbuck’s than a Baskin-Robbins. It had maybe 10 flavors, all beautifully arranged, not 31 messy cardboard canisters packed in ice and served to you by an overworked teen. The workers in this shop were professionals. Both greeted Melinda and me with a “Bonjour, Monsieur-Dame” and were only too eager to serve us. Stymied by not finding “Orange Sherbert,” I passed but Melinda got a “petit” of two things I cannot pronounce, let alone spell, a tiny dish that cost 3,30 € (which based on today’s USD/Euro exchange rate is something like $1000, I think). I didn’t see the phrase “ice cream” anywhere in the store. They serve gelato al naturale.

Go on, learn more about it yourself. The shop is called Amorino and they even have a Facebook page (of course). Oh, and whatever you call what they serve, it IS really, really good. Melinda shared some.