Glacier Beatrix, perhaps the best ice cream in France

During our road trip in the Ardèche region in France we also visited a small town called Vals-des-Bains. The town is mostly known for its thermal baths, but I had a very different reason to visit it: Glacier Beatrix.
Glacier Beatrix serves what might be the best ice cream in France. I had an exclusive look behind the scenes, tasted the freshest ice cream I’ve ever had and enjoyed a big ice cream coupe afterwards. On this page you can read all about Glacier Beatrix.

The Cerdini family has been making ice cream since 1930. This Italian-French family combines the best of both worlds. It all started with Angiolo Cerdini leaving Italy and settling in the Ardèche region as he could find the best milk and fresh fruits here. At the moment Pierre Cerdini, 4th generation, is in charge. He still gets his ingredients from the region and knows all the suppliers personally.

All the ice creams are made in the back of the shop. I got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Glacier Beatrix to see how their praline ice cream was made. To make the praline ice cream, they caramelize the nuts themselves. They mix this with other ingredients like local milk. After that they put the mixture in the ice cream machine where it turns and cools. On the picture you see the fresh ice cream coming out of the machine and being put in an aluminium container. It’s ready to be sold in the shops now. I had a taste of the ice cream when it came straight from the machine, I never tasted ice cream that fresh!

The ice cream flavors that they have available at Glacier Beatrix vary regularly, depending on the season. But they always have many nice ice cream and sorbet coupes on the menu. From left to right you see:
* Macaronade with peach, lemon, whipped cream, fresh fruit salad and a macaron.
* Tananarive with pec-choc (white chocolate and pecans covered with dark chocolate), chocolate and macadamia ice creams, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
* Strawberry Melba with vanilla ice cream, seasonal fruit, coulis and whipped cream.

If you’re ever in Vals-des-Bains or in the Ardèche in general, I really recommend that you pay a visit to Glacier Beatrix!

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