Ile St. Louis

Greetings friends…. or should I say Bonjour or BonSoir-

Well Bon Soir it is as the photos I am going to share first where all taken at night in what I have decide to call my favorite little street in Paris. Now, there are a thousand different choices and maybe next time I have a chance to wander the nooks and crannies of Paris, I will find and fall in love with a new favorite. But for this visit, this is the one. For a little geography lesson Paris is divided more or less down the middle by the river Seine, crisscrossed by a number of beautiful little and not so little bridges. More or less in the middle of the city are 2 little islands.

The bigger of the two, Ile de la Cite, is home to the Notre Dame, my favorite church and tourist attraction in Paris [pictures of that coming another day] as well as a number of little residential streets, the flower market and several brasseries, just to name a few attractions.

Right behind this island, is another smaller, less travelled one, the Ile St. Louis. It is primarily a residential island with many old, tall, stone buildings looking over the waters of the Seine lapping against the stone walls on either side of the river. Down the middle of this quaint little island is the main street, Rue St Louis en L’ile.

A small cobblestoned street lined with the most charming little shops, boutique hotels, brasseries, bistros and cafes, this street has all of the charm of Paris with very little of the crowds. Leisurely shoppers stroll down the street whereas through the windows you see diners enjoying some of that wonderful French cuisine, sipping their cafe au laits or enjoying a glass of wine.

The whole picture as an entirety is wonderfully etched in my mind as a quintessential Parisienne experience. I came back to this street several times, always at the end of my day and strolled down those cobblestones, enjoying watching the life going on around me.

I also discovered a few of my favorite little goodies on this street- enchanting little french stuffed animals at La Arche de Noe for Ella, infused olive oils for some friends from Oliviers & Co. as well as a wonderful little scarf. The shots you see here are just a few of the shops as I experienced them in the evenings.Doesn’t it just feel like Paris?

p.s. please excuse the slight bluriness of some of the images. I was playing at figuring out how to use the night time setting on my new fancy schmany camera and technically I should have shot these using a tripod, which I didn’t have. I thought you might still enjoy them as much as I do.