Vacation
rentals in Paris, Marais, Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain des Prés.
Furnished apartments near Eiffel Tower, superb
rentals in Paris!
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and prepare your stay in the area where you will soon be spending
your holiday. Our vacation rentals are centrally located in
Paris most sought after areas.
Merge with the way of life!
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Le
Marais is the Paris we so often see idealized in
films and postcards. For a number of years this area had been decaying
and unfashionable but now it is making a real comeback as an area
for the young, trendy and quite well off set in Paris. Today, the
Marais is the largest historic district in all France; but it is
also up-to-the-minute fascinating
HISTORY
Drained
by monks in the 13th century, the Marais ("swamp") was land-filled
to provide building space for the Right Bank. With Henri IV's construction
of the Place des Vosges at the beginning of the 17th century, the
area became the city's center of fashionable living. Leading architects
and sculptors of the period designed elegant hôtels particuliers
with large courtyards. The Marais filled with more and more high
society and grand hôtels - Mme de Sévigné, Cardinal
Richelieu, as well as the royal family all had homes here, and Molière,
Racine, and Voltaire held forth in the great salons.
Under
Louis XV, the center of Parisian life moved to the faubourgs (then
considered suburbs) St-Honoré and St-Germain, and construction
in the Marais ceased. Finally the court moved to Versailles, and
the Revolution made aristocratic living in the Marais a dangerous
pastime.
The
Marais declined, becoming the Jewish and immigrant quarter. During
the Revolution, the former haunts of the sovereign gave way to slumlords
and their tenements. Many hôtels fell into ruin or disrepair.
In
the 1960s, the French government undertook a major restoration project
in the Marais, an area that now stretches between the Beaubourg
and the Bastille. The program obviously succeeded: This is now one
of the hottest neighborhoods in Paris for shopping, dining, and
trendy living. The medieval streets make for fascinating strolling,
and there's plenty of window shopping as well
TRENDY NEIGHBORHOOD
This
inspiring neighbourhood draws a creative crowd and an eclectic bunch
of young professionals who dally on the cafe terraces and live in
the small, crooked apartments above.
The
Marais is still the center of Paris's Jewish community, where you
find synagogues, delicatessens, and kosher butcher shops. The rue
des Rosiers, the main artery of this busy neighborhood, has its
own sad history. It was the street from which Germans and French
collaborators rounded up Jewish residents for the trip to the concentration
camps.
It
has regained its pre-Revolutionary glory, thanks to 30 years of
extensive renovations. Once-palatial mansions have become exquisite
museums, and the tiny twisting streets have been adopted by fashionable
boutiques and galleries.
The area is also unquestionably the center of gay Paris, with its
hub around the intersection of rue Ste-Croix de la Brettonnerie
and rue Vieille-du-Temple. The 4eme is an especially fun neighborhood.
It's accessible. It's red wine. It's just-barely-affordable, sort-of-designer
shops. It's antiques and sparkly club wear. Let the festivities
begin.
PLACE
DES VOSGES
The highlight of the Marais is still the place des Vosges. The magnificent
Place de la Vosges, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris,
is a firm favorite with Parisians and regular visitors as a place
to relax in beautiful surroundings and just take the city in. Remarkably
well-preserved, this exquisite square will take your breath away
as you enter under its arched arcades. There is no way not to feel
transported back in time standing in the midst of its 17th-century
splendor- that is, until you notice the very 20th-century designer
boutiques, antique shops, and fine restaurants. The gardenlike atmosphere
of the square makes a perfect retreat in which to leave behind the
sirens and the shriek of traffic, and to sit and take in one of
the gentler scenes of the city. The so rosy tone of the time-worn
stones gives the square the look of the most delicate of impressionist
paintings.
A
number of old Marais homes are now museums, including Victor Hugo's
house (No. 6, Place des Vosges), the Musée Picasso, and the
Musée Carnavalet. Many other 17th century mansions that once
housed the noblest families in Paris are still to be seen in this
quiet and ungentrified neighborhood.
MUSEUMS
The Picasso Museum at the Hotel Sale is the worlds greatest Picasso
collection. The French state amassed the numerous works in exchange
for writing off over his estates ?25 million in inheritance taxes
after Picasso's death in 1973. In addition to being home to over
4000 original Picasso drawings, paintings, sculptures, ceramics
and notebooks the museum also hosts works from Picasso's extensive
private collection including Cézanne and Rousseau.
SHOPPING
The
Marais is Paris's only neighborhood with shops open Sundays. For
shopaholics, this is a much-needed bonus; no one could browse all
the treasures arrayed here in just six days a week! The Village
St-Paul, a jumble of antiquaires in a country-like courtyard is
brimming with "junque" that is hard to pass up. Fashion
boutiques, featuring the latest and trendiest or last year's mark-downs.
Toy stores, museum shops, gay men's fashions to die for, uncategorizable
shops such as Marais are chock-a-block on each narrow street. There
is Jean-Pierre de Castro, featuring silver forks and spoons sold
by weight, alongwith Carnavalette, and A l'Image du Grenier sur
l'Eau, the former selling old cartoons and catalogues, the latter,
posters and prints. The Marais is Paris's challenge to serious shoppers
TEA
SALONS
Mariage
Frères, 30-32 rue du Bourg-Tibourg
Tea salon: daily noon-7pm.
Boutique & Musee du The: daily 10.30am-7.30pm. (May vary in August).
WINEBAR
Aparemment
café 18, rue des Coutures-St-Gervais
BISTROS AND RESTAURANTS
Les
Petits Marseillais 72 rue Vieille du Temple 01 42 78 91 59
Le
Bar à Huitres 33 bd Beaumarchais - 01 48 87 98 92
La
Fontaine Gourmande 11 rue Charlot - 01 42 787 240
Camille
24 rue des Francs Bourgeois - 01 42 72 20 50
Le
Valet de Carreau 2 rue Dupetit Thouars - 01 42 727 260
Les
fous d'en face 3 rue du bourg tibourg - 0148 87 03 75
Rouge
Gorge rue Saint Paul - 01 48 04 75 89
Ma
Bourgogne Place des Vosges
L'Osteria
Rue de Sévigné
Le
Pamphlet 38 rue Debelleyme - booking required
Le
Connétable 55 r Archives - 01 42 77 41 40
Auberge
Nicolas Flamel 51 r Montmorency - 01 42 71 77 78
Chez
Jenny 39 bd Temple - 01 44 54 39 00
Chez
Janou 2 r Roger Verlomme - 01 42 72 28 41
L'Ambroisie
Place des Vosges
HOMEWARE/GIFT/FASHION
BOUTIQUES (Tuesday- Saturday 1-7pm)
Martin Grant, 32 rue des Rosiers
Les 2 Mille Feuilles, 59 rue Francs Bourgeois
A l'Image du Grenier sur l'Eau, 45 rue des Francs Bourgeois
Villa Marais, 40 rue Francs Bourgeois
2 Mille & 1 Nuits, 13 rue des Francs-Bourgeois
Village St-Paul between rue St-Paul and rue Charlemagne
Marais Plus 20, rue des Francs-Bourgeois
Jean-Pierre de Castro 17, rue des Francs-Bourgeois
Carnavalette 2, rue des Francs-Bourgeois
MUSEUMS
(closed some public holidays and often on Tuesdays)
Musée Cognacq-Jay, Hotel de Donon, 8 rue Elzevir
Musée Carnavalet, 23, rue de Sévigné
La Maison de Victor Hugo, 6 Place des Vosges
Hôtel de Sully, 62 rue St Antoine
Musée National Picasso, Hotel Sale, 5 rue de Thorigny
Hôtel
Libéral Bruand 1, rue de la Perle
Musée
de la Chasse et de la Nature 60, rue des Archives
Musée de la Curiosité et de la Magie 11, rue St-Paul
Musée de la Poupée impasse Berthaud at rue Beaubourg
Maison Européene de la Photographie 5-7, rue de Fourcy