My favorite thing to do in Paris is just walk and look. I never seem to get enough.

Yesterday, we managed to spend most of the day exploring Ile Saint Louis. Obviously, we went slowly, because someone on a tight schedule could probably check it off their list in an hour or less.

We walked around the outside of the island, then Frank patiently waited while I window shopped and took an outrageous number of pictures of the window displays (since narrowed down to a number I could upload to Flicker with my slow dialup connection). I did buy some latte bowls with a red stencil on a cream background, to replace the matching one at home that we chipped recently. The others made it home several years ago wrapped in clothing in my luggage, so these will too.

We had lunch at a sweet little homey restaurant called Auberge de la Reine Blanche. Frank continued his vegetarian streak with another plate of vegetables with mushroom ravioli in a sinfully rich cream sauce for starters, and I had coq au vin following a salad with chevre chaud. It was all simple, but delicious. It’s an easy 10-minute walk from here so I’m sure we’ll go back at least once.

I wish I could have taken this photo of a woman on her motorcycle taxi and her passenger from the front. Both looked incredibly chic and maybe a little bored. Note the high heels on the driver’s boots. Besides looking good, they’re giving her enough leg length to handle the big bike. As a short person who used to ride big bikes, that’s a detail I really appreciate!