Go to Le Marais – Paris’ Most Genuine District
With its elegant structure, hidden gardens, and delightful squares, Le Marais is without doubt one of the greatest neighborhoods in Paris to go to. Le Marais was the place the bourgeois lived, and its rich previous could be seen within the elegant non-public mansions.
Situated on the Proper Financial institution of the Seine River, Le Marais encompasses elements of the third and 4th Arrondissements, and it’s best explored on foot.
In case you are 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 utilize fully totally free! 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 vital file: it was the primary church in Paris to interrupt away fully from the Gothic model and use the brand new Baroque model as a substitute.
The baroque façade, with its huge pink door and asymmetrical clock, is actually 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 value exploring!
From the Church, return to the principle 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 without doubt one of the Royal Squares in Paris. Additionally it is Paris’ oldest public sq., commissioned by King Henri IV in 1605. Initially known as Place Royale, as we speak it’s one in every of Paris’ most beloved squares and gardens the place you may chill out and have a picnic in the course of the good season.
The structure of this sq. is sort of distinctive. Its completely symmetrical format contains buildings with pink brick exterior partitions and slate roofs constructed over vaulted arcades. Immediately, these buildings home eating places, cafés, and artwork galleries.
On one of many corners of Place des Vosges, you will see 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), a ravishing 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 without doubt one of the greatest museums in Paris to go to if you’re a historical past buff. This museum provides perception into the town’s historical past.
Its spectacular everlasting assortment, which could be visited totally free, 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 equivalent 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.
Apart from being a inexperienced area the place locals prefer to chill out, it is usually a sort 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 chicken that begins singing every time 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 precise.
5. Musée Nationwide Picasso
The Musée Nationwide Picasso is housed within the Hôtel Salé, a shocking non-public mansion listed as a historic monument. Commissioned by Pierre Aubert, lord of Fontenay, the lodge was constructed between 1656 and 1659 and boasts the standard structure of Le Marais.
Because the title 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 mates. The Musée Picasso in Paris is a very powerful Picasso Museum on the earth, adopted by the museums in Barcelona and Málaga.
Lower than a 10-minute stroll from the Musée Nationwide Picasso, you will see 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 title from the Hospice des Enfants Rouges (Purple Kids’s Hospital), a former youngsters’s hospital the place the orphaned youngsters have been all wearing pink.
Strolling across the Marché des Enfants Rouges, you should buy recent produce, from greens to cheeses to oysters. You can too decide up ready-to-eat dishes from worldwide cuisines, like Moroccan and Italian, and revel in them on the spot.
Stroll again to Rue de Bretagne and proceed to the left for a couple of minutes. You can see your self on the Sq. du Temple.
7. Sq. du Temple
Situated in entrance of the Mairie (Metropolis Corridor) of the third Arrondissement, the Sq. du Temple is a ravishing 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 enormous 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 traces on the pavement and sidewalk simply in entrance of the Mairie. That is the precise format of the Outdated 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 Outdated 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 precise (Rue des Archives). Stroll it for round 8 minutes, and the Archives Nationales shall be in your left. You’ll be able to entry Archives Nationales by way of Rue des Francs Bourgeois.
8. Archives Nationales (Hôtel de Soubise)
The Musée des Archives Nationales is housed contained in the Hôtel de Soubise. It accommodates a few of France’s most vital historic paperwork and the Armoire de Fer (the Iron Chest). The Armoire de Fer is a powerful strongbox in-built 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 excellent place for a soothing break.
9. Crédit Municipal de Paris
Throughout the road from the Archives Nationales, you will see 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 worthwhile object in change for a direct mortgage representing 50 to 70% of the item’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 positioned in a mansion constructed on a former convent, itself erected on the former partitions of Philippe-Auguste (XIIth century), demolished round 1535. The format of this historic enclosure and the stays of an outdated tower can nonetheless be seen within the courtyard of this institution. In the course of the good season, there’s an out of doors terrace bar that belongs to Griffon.
10. Medieval Homes Rue François Miron
Rue François Miron is without doubt one of the oldest streets in Paris. Right here, you may marvel at beautiful half-timbered homes courting 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), have been thought-about the town’s most historic ones. Nonetheless, the homes in Rue François Miron are a must-see in Le Marais because of 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 precise.
11. Rue des Barres
The beautiful Rue des Barres is positioned 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 couple 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).
In case you are 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 retailers in Le Marais.
You can too stroll in direction of the Seine River and cross Pont Louis-Philippe to go to Ile Saint-Louis. Interested in what there’s to do right here? Take a look at my publish on the greatest issues to do in Ile Saint-Louis.