Go to Le Marais – Paris’ Most Genuine District
With its elegant structure, hidden gardens, and delightful squares, Le Marais is among the greatest neighborhoods in Paris to go to. Le Marais was the place the bourgeois lived, and its rich previous might be seen within the elegant personal mansions.
Positioned on the Proper Financial institution of the Seine River, Le Marais encompasses components of the third and 4th Arrondissements, and it’s best explored on foot.
If you’re on the lookout for the most effective locations to discover in Le Marais, this information is ideal for you! I’ve put collectively this self-guided strolling tour of Le Marais, together with a map, that you should use totally at no cost! Le Marais has many stunning corners, and also you don’t wish to miss any of them!
Map of Le Marais Paris Strolling Tour
Click on right here to view this map of Le Marais Strolling Tour on Google
Le Marais Strolling Tour (Self-Guided)
Begin this Le Marais free strolling tour from the metro station Saint Paul (Line 1).
1. Paroisse Saint-Paul Saint-Louis
Proper beside the metro entrance is the attractive Paroisse Saint-Paul Saint-Louis, a Seventeenth-century church with an necessary file: it was the primary church in Paris to interrupt away totally from the Gothic type and use the brand new Baroque type as a substitute.
The baroque façade, with its huge crimson door and asymmetrical clock, is really gorgeous. Step contained in the church to admire the spectacular 59-meter dome shining gentle over the altar and Delacroix’s astonishing portray ‘Christ within the Backyard of Olives.’
Take the time to stroll across the church: there are different artworks price exploring!
From the Church, return to the primary road (Rue Saint-Antonie) and take the second road on the left (Rue de Birague) to get to Place des Vosges.
2. Place des Vosges
Place des Vosges is among the Royal Squares in Paris. It is usually Paris’ oldest public sq., commissioned by King Henri IV in 1605. Initially referred to as Place Royale, at the moment it’s one in every of Paris’ most beloved squares and gardens the place you may chill out and have a picnic throughout the good season.
The structure of this sq. is sort of distinctive. Its completely symmetrical structure consists of buildings with crimson brick exterior partitions and slate roofs constructed over vaulted arcades. Right now, these buildings home eating places, cafés, and artwork galleries.
On one of many corners of Place des Vosges, one can find Maison de Victor Hugo (6 Place des Vosges), the place the well-known author lived. This home museum is free to go to.
From the sq.’s southwest nook, you may entry the Hôtel de Sully (5 Place des Vosges), an exquisite palace with a free-access courtyard with sculptures.
Exit Place des Vosges from the highest left nook and stroll straight to reach on the Musée Carnavalet.
3. Musée Carnavalet
The Musée Carnavalet is among the greatest museums in Paris to go to in case you are a historical past buff. This museum presents perception into the town’s historical past.
Its spectacular everlasting assortment, which might be visited at no cost, boasts about 2,600 work and a couple of,000 sculptures scattered round 100 rooms.
The French Revolution exhibit is especially attention-grabbing. It options detailed scale fashions of objects similar to guillotines and replicas of the Bastille jail and King Louis XVI’s jail cell.
Your subsequent cease, Sq. Georges Caïn, is on the parallel road on the left (Rue Payenne) from Musée Carnavalet.
4. Sq. Georges Caïn
This beautiful sq. behind Musée Carnavalet is an oasis of peace amid the bustle of the Marais district.
Moreover being a inexperienced area the place locals prefer to chill out, it’s also a type of lapidary museum the place you may see some stays from the Tuileries Palace.
As quickly as you enter the Sq. Georges Caïn, you first see a bronze statue of a unadorned lady, ‘L’Aurore,’ in the midst of a rose mattress. One other thrilling piece to take a look at is ‘Le Rossignol Electrique,’ an digital hen that begins singing at any time when the wind blows.
To reach on the Musée Nationwide Picasso, the subsequent cease, depart the sq. at its prime left nook and observe the road on the suitable.
5. Musée Nationwide Picasso
The Musée Nationwide Picasso is housed within the Hôtel Salé, a surprising personal mansion listed as a historic monument. Commissioned by Pierre Aubert, lord of Fontenay, the resort was constructed between 1656 and 1659 and boasts the standard structure of Le Marais.
Because the identify suggests, the Picasso Museum showcases the works of Pablo Picasso, the well-known Spanish painter. It additionally hosts attention-grabbing short-term exhibitions about Picasso’s buddies. The Musée Picasso in Paris is an important Picasso Museum on the planet, adopted by the museums in Barcelona and Málaga.
Lower than a 10-minute stroll from the Musée Nationwide Picasso, one can find the Marché des Enfants Rouges. When you attain Rue de Bretagne, take the third road on the left to get to the subsequent cease.
6. Marché des Enfants Rouges
The Marché des Enfants Rouges is Paris’ oldest lined meals market. Inbuilt 1615, it takes its identify from the Hospice des Enfants Rouges (Purple Kids’s Hospital), a former youngsters’s hospital the place the orphaned youngsters had been all wearing crimson.
Strolling across the Marché des Enfants Rouges, you should buy contemporary produce, from greens to cheeses to oysters. You too can choose up ready-to-eat dishes from worldwide cuisines, like Moroccan and Italian, and luxuriate in them on the spot.
Stroll again to Rue de Bretagne and proceed to the left for a couple of minutes. You’ll discover your self on the Sq. du Temple.
7. Sq. du Temple
Positioned in entrance of the Mairie (Metropolis Corridor) of the third Arrondissement, the Sq. du Temple is an exquisite English-style backyard constructed within the space that belonged to the Knights of the Temple again within the thirteenth century.
In Medieval instances, the Templars drained and deforested this land. They constructed the Enclos du Temple, an unlimited enclosure that prolonged over 130 hectares and was protected by an 8m tall perimeter wall. It was like a metropolis throughout the metropolis of Paris!
Curious guests will discover some unusual blue strains on the pavement and sidewalk simply in entrance of the Mairie. That is the precise structure of the Previous Temple’s Hold, the jail the place King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette spent the final years earlier than their execution. At the moment, the Hold was the one Medieval vestige of the Previous Temple, and it was fully razed in 1810 by the order of Napoléon I to keep away from any reminiscence or place of worship devoted to the Monarchy.
Return to Rue de Bretagne and take the primary road on the suitable (Rue des Archives). Stroll it for round 8 minutes, and the Archives Nationales will probably be in your left. You may entry Archives Nationales by Rue des Francs Bourgeois.
8. Archives Nationales (Hôtel de Soubise)
The Musée des Archives Nationales is housed contained in the Hôtel de Soubise. It incorporates a few of France’s most necessary historic paperwork and the Armoire de Fer (the Iron Chest). The Armoire de Fer is a formidable strongbox inbuilt 1791 to carry important paperwork produced by the New Regime, together with the unique of the French Structure (1791).
Earlier than leaving, take a look at the Hôtel’s secluded gardens, an incredible place for a soothing break.
9. Crédit Municipal de Paris
Throughout the road from the Archives Nationales, one can find the Crédit Municipal de Paris (CMP). Previously referred to as ‘Mont de Piété,’ is the oldest monetary establishment in Paris.
Since 1637, the establishment has practiced pawn broking, a type of credit score that consists of pawning a precious object in alternate for a direct mortgage representing 50 to 70% of the thing’s worth on the general public public sale market. The Crédit Municipal additionally serves as a financial institution and public sale home.
The Crédit Municipal is situated in a mansion constructed on a former convent, itself erected on the former partitions of Philippe-Auguste (XIIth century), demolished round 1535. The structure of this historic enclosure and the stays of an previous tower can nonetheless be seen within the courtyard of this institution. Through the good season, there’s an outside terrace bar that belongs to Griffon.
10. Medieval Homes Rue François Miron
Rue François Miron is among the oldest streets in Paris. Right here, you may marvel at beautiful half-timbered homes relationship again to Medieval Paris.
For hundreds of years, these tall and thin buildings, the Maison du Faucheur and Maison du Mouton (Home of the Reaper and Home of Sheep), had been thought-about the town’s most historic ones. Nonetheless, the homes in Rue François Miron are a must-see in Le Marais due to their crookedness.
From Rue François Miron, head to Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe. Your subsequent cease, Rue des Barres, is the primary road on the suitable.
11. Rue des Barres
The stunning Rue des Barres is situated between the Church of St Gervais-et-Saint-Protais and the Sq. Couperin. It’s one of many oldest streets in Le Marais and likewise one of many prettiest. Right here, you may see a number of half-timbered homes nonetheless standing within the metropolis, in addition to the Seventh-century St Gervais-et-Saint-Protais Church.
Rue des Barres is the final cease of this Le Marais strolling tour. From right here, you may take the metro (Pont Marie station, line 7).
If you’re within the temper for extra strolling and it’s not too late, take a look at this self-guided Paris chocolate tour, which explores the most effective chocolate outlets in Le Marais.
You too can stroll in the direction of the Seine River and cross Pont Louis-Philippe to go to Ile Saint-Louis. Interested by what there’s to do right here? Try my publish on the greatest issues to do in Ile Saint-Louis.