Paris: the Marais -- please tell me why you love it!

Dina, check my profile for my trip report in Paris while staying in the Marais. The Bastile market on Sunday is great
The boutiques are overwhelming on almost every street around where I stayed on the Rue de Vielle Temple.

Try the "Miss Marple" cake at Pain de Sucre on Rue Rambuteau

http://images31.fotki.com/v1051/photos/8/852267/5656205/F11B0973-vi.jpg

and the "Callas" bread at boulangerie-patisserie Legay Choc,
45 rue St Croix de la Bretonnerie

http://images32.fotki.com/v1065/photos/8/852267/5656205/F11B1220-vi.jpg

Place des Vosges--my favorite square in Paris.

Mariages Freres tea shop on Bourg Tibourg.

L'as du Falafel on Rue des Rosiers--also some great shops on this street (pedestrian street).

I've also found some shops I liked on Rue des Franc Bourgeois.

Just aimlessly walking through the neighborhood is a treat--it's my favorite area of Paris.

Dina,
We spent a month in an apartment in the Marais last April/May. It's a great place to stay. I wrote a (long) trip report on June 11, 2008 about our visit (http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/long-overdue-paris-trip-report.cfm), and my wife wrote a report specifically about our neighborhood (http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/thank-you-for-paris-help.cfm).
I hope you find them helpful.

I stayed near the Marais last summer. here are a few thoughts from my trip report from different days

I still had not found the center of the Marais, so I decided to follow the falafel. People with pitas were getting thicker and thicker, cukes and sauce dripping everywhere
The culprit was L’As du Falafel with a line down the rue de Rosiers. It is supposedly the best on the planet but I had just eaten and I have never had a Jones that bad for falafel. I went into two Kosher bakeries to bring something back to the room for later. In one I purchased the moistest onion roll and an almond stick, the other a poppy seed strudel. You really have to like poppy seeds to eat this. One bit and you will fail every drug test for the rest of your working career.

I wanted to speak about the people who worked there about the neighborhood and anti-semitism but one guy was busy, one young woman only spoke French, and one old man looked like the Dustin Hoffman character from Papillion after he lost his mind. Maybe I will go back another day.

The neighborhood is filled with museums and decaying buildings but I was looking for Place des Vosges. The relatively small square is perfect and conveys a serenity even though it is filled with children trying to kick pigeons and hoards of tourists marching purposeful to their next assignment. It is protected on all four sides by brick and stone pavilions with a 400 year history. I wanted to visit the Victor Hugo Museum but jetlag was winning. I have always thought it was amusing that Les Miserables, a work about oppression and injustice was made into a musical. “Da, da, da ta, da, we’re going to chop off your head, if you aren’t already dead.” Hugo always needed money so he may have approved. But I am guessing he would not have liked the nickname Les Miz, which is like calling the people who sleep on gratings The Home.
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That evening I returned to the Marais for the world’s best falafel and lemonade. This part of Paris is dominated by Sephardim, which are Jews more or less from Spain and the Mediterranean. Ashkenazi Jews are from Eastern Europe, knishes, bagels-Sephardim falafel, schwarma. Since I do not eat falafel often, it was the best I ever had and only waited 10 minutes. The pita was filled falafel and cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, and other veggies. The lemonade was fine, but I am not prepared at this time to say world’s best
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I went back to the Marais that evening, where I found a Jewish wedding in the Place de Vosges and in near rue des Rosiers, Orthodox Jews trying to convince other Jews to prey wearing tefillin. Teffilin are black leather boxes with straps that contain portions from the Torah. They are also called phylacteries. All in the midst of the falafel wars.

It means "swamp" but IMO it is a great place to stay. We loved our time at the Pavilion de la Reine hotel on the Place des Vosges...perhaps parts are more sedate than St. Germaine but nonetheless am sure you'll enjoy it and all the various folks you'll see in the neighborhoods.

Robert & Louise, 64, Rue Vieille du Temple, for dinner where you definately need reservations.

Le Colimaçon - www.colimacon-marais.com,
44, Rue Vieille du Temple just a block over from the above for another dinner (try the Languadoc here)

And Finklestein's Jewish Bakery

Pjk

wow! just finally got back to this thread today, and i'm SO excited and grateful for all the advice. i'll take notes tonight, and maybe back with questions!

Thank you!!
dina

I just read through your trip reports and made notes for all the recommendations. Thanks again. I loved it all!

As you walk through the Marais, raise your head and look for the plaques that memorialize those deported to concentration camps in WWII. I am not Jewish but have many Jewish friends; I am moved by the monument to the deportees behind Notre Dame, but I am far more moved by the memorial to the children and teachers taken from a neighborhood school right there in the Marais. There are many such memorials in the Marais, but history and violence did not end in the Marais in 1945. As you enjoy your falafel on Rue des Rosiers, remember the terrorist attacks that killed six in the Jo Goldenburg restaurant across the same street in 1982. That we can still enjoy those sandwiches means the terrorists did not win, even though they were never captured.

We ate at Goldenberg's a few weeks before it was machine gunned. It was filled with well heeled men and their "nieces." I still remember that I ate corned beef and I think they used the German or Yiddish word something like Pökelfleisch or pikelfleisch. It is Eastern European cooking rather than Sephardic.

It is closed but faded signs still existed last sumemr.

This is from my last trip report.
I'm off tomorrow for Paris but alas, not staying in the Marais.
Not by choice I was outvoted

Th Marais, I'll start with the name it means swamp. You can google the history and about the half-timbered houses that most write about and the oldest public square, Place des Vognes. This is an electic area with a Jewish/gay/artistic community. A place where you can be yourself, a place where you are never over or under dressed, a place where the main dress is old jeans worn with a top and scarf or trendy outfits.
So much to see in such a varied array from the synagogue agudath hakehilot to the picasso musée. So many museums and galleries to keep you occupied, so many upscale boutiques, clothes, gifts, curiosities to burn a huge hole in your pocket. For those whose eyes are bigger than their wallets, there are trendy boutiques and department stores. There's the Village St Paul to feast the eyes on antiques as well as at the arcade de Louvre. You are in the historic heart of Paris, charming small hotels or huge like the beautiful over 200 rooms Jardin de Marais. Restaurants for all budgets.
You'll find classic beauty along with quirky charm everywhere. You are in walking distance to the Sorbonne, The Seine, the Louvre and Notre Dame.
Pick up a copy of Jazz Hot or Jazz Magazine and find out who is playing at one of the Marais spots, Let the smell of Falafel on the rue des Rosiers draw you. Notice how crowded the second hand clothing stores are because, these young folks need their money to pay the rent in this all embracing neighborhood.
You never feel alone here. Stop for tea, or coffee at the many shops or linger over a glass of wine in the bookstore bar., spend the night at one of the many sing-along restaurant/bars.
Meet people at the happy hours or one of the bookstores, above all be happy-you are in Paris and in its heartbeat-The Marais.

I like it because it still has much of the mediaeval street plan rather than the grand formality of the 19th century western side of Paris, and that makes a lot of the charm.

Gentrification came with the conversion of existing shops into something more chi-chi, and some interesting street-life as part of it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2452902270/in/set-72157604796188694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2452064433/in/set-72157604796188694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2452895178/in/set-72157604796188694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2452899692/in/set-72157604796188694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2452072235/in/set-72157604796188694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2753901686/in/set-72157601670143924/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricklondon/2753901714/in/set-72157601670143924/

And it is next door to the place des Vosges:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wwy_MzuKe8
(though it's a lot buzzier on a sunny Sunday morning).

Just stroll around the rue des Archives, rue vieille du Temple, place Ste Catherine, rue des Francs-Bourgeois and through the place des Vosges to rue du Pas de la Mule. On the Bvd Richard Lenoir, there are markets at the weekend.

At the bottom of rue des Archives, opposite the Hotel de Ville is the BHV department store, which is always worth a look.

Hi Dina:

We live part time right up the street on Michel Le Conte at Rue Beaubourg. All of the suggestions are good for restaurants etc. You are really at the "far western edge" of the Marais, so here are some suggestions of things that are really close to you that are some of our favorites:

Some favorite restaurants:
Le Hanger
Impasse Berthaud
75003 3ème Arrondissement Paris, Paris, France
+33 1 42 74 55 44

This is one of our favorite little neighborhood restaurants-it is in a little alleyway next to a doll museum-really great food-very tiny-so reservations is a good idea. I took a friend there visiting from Seattle and we shut the place down around 1AM so the proprietress gave us a tour of the kitchen! It is really a nice mid-priced choice.

Here is a link to a discussion on chowhound about it:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/336769

We like to take friends to the Dome du Marais. (in the old days especially US friends because it was non-smoking but now that is true indoors everywhere)

Le Dôme du Marais
53 bis, rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris 4ème
M° : St-Paul or Rambuteau
Tel : 01 42 74 54 17
Closed Sunday and Monday

Here's the Fodors review:

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/france/paris/review-428122.html

Markets and Bus: If you are where I think you are on Rue St. Martin (the end near rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare), then there is a little Franprix on rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare which is your nearest little store. But there are great butchers, vegetables, etc. on Rue Rambuteau (the other end of St. Martin and across Rue Beaubourg). That is where I do most of my daily shopping, but if you have the time, take the extra walk the other direction (go west on rue du Grenier Saint-Lazare which turns into Etienne Marcel) to Rue Montorgueil-it is the nicest market street in the area running from Les Halles up to Rue Reaumur and there are great stores there. If you buy too much to carry, the 29 bus runs back that direction. And that bus is one of my favorites for the neighborhood. It goes to the Louvre, the Grands Magasins. Opera and St. Lazarre. The other direction it takes you all trhough the Marais, Bastille and Gare de Lyon. Here is a map of it from the RATP site:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan.php?nompdf=29&loc=bus_paris/

Boulangeries:

This one is a bit of a trot, but part of a small artisan chain in Paris that is quite good (click on the one in the 2nd under the Nos Boutiques tab):

http://www.maison-kayser.com/ and here is a mention of his shop on rue monge in an article on Best Boulangeries in Paris from Food and wine: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-boulangeries-in-paris

There are 3-4 great bakeries on Montorgueil and some fairly good ones on Rambuteau-you will have fun trying them all and choosing your personal favorite!

Another ethnic restaurant favorite for Cous Cous (although on weekend it can have kind of a Eurotrash club vibe later in the evenuing


Le 404
69 Rue des Gravilliers, Paris, 75003
Tel. : +(33) 1 42 74 57 81
Fax : +(33) 1 42 74 03 41

Anyway-I hope you have a great time-it is a fun neighborhood.

JPIE--
thanks for all the great tips!
our apt is actually closer to rue rambeteau.
is maison-keyser a good place to pick up sandwiches for a picnic? Or are boulangeries just for bread... (sorry if that's a really dumb question)

MIMI-
i have booked michael osman for one of our days, and haven't yet decided what to do. i'm now thinking a historical tour of the marias might be perfect. what do you think??
have a wonderful trip!!!

ACKISLANDER
-- we are really interested in WWII history, so your tips are especially appreciated!

PATRICK-
thanks for the fantastic photo links! loved the video of place de voges, too. can't wait to be there!

PETER-
thanks for the restaurant recommendations!

FIFI, NWWANDERER, ADUCHAMP, AND DUKEY--
thanks to all of you, too. GREAT GREAT tips!!

keep 'em coming!
dina

LES--
i LOVED your trip reports!

Dina, Michael hasn't answered my last few emails I invited him to the GTG and dinner at our apartment, but yes the Marais would be fun, but I like it alone as there are too many tempting places to stop. Think of what really interests you, that will give him the idea. If only you were there while I am, that would be fun. I leave tomorrow but for only a week...wish it could be more!

Hi Dina:

Most boulangeries DO sell sandwiches. And many of them are quite good and since many times in addition to sausage or chicken or rillettes(yum-I am making myself hungry), they also have eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. on them. So it can be cheaper to pick them up there rather than buying everything and making them at home. The big deal at Kaysers is that the bread is very "artisanal", made the old fashioned way and because of Polaine's influence, they also make breads other than straight white baguettes.

Also, I forgot to add that the doll museum next to Le Hanger is having an exposition on Barbie between now and September. That would be a hoot in French:

http://www.museedelapoupeeparis.com/info-autre-lien/info2.html

Thanks, jpie. That sound great.

and you're right about barbie in french. my daughter and i would love to see that!!

btw, what are rillettes?http://www.fodors.com/community/images/PostMessage.png

mimi-

i was so lucky when i first contacted michael--he contacted me within 24 hours. i must have caught him at the right time because everyone says how difficult he is to get a hold of. maybe he's even traveling himself?

we have spent a week in Paris before, and i'm just overwhelmed with what to focus on with michael. i'm thinking of maybe the orsay (which the kids have not seen) or the louvre and then a specific neighborhood, the marias or the left bank and st. germaine area. we have him on our first day there, so we'll have time to go back to places he may introduce us to.

have a GREAT trip, mimi!!

dina

Those are good choices, as he is a painter himself.
yes, he's always late at answering emails but since he is so busy with tours and mine are social, i don't get upset.
He's very good with children and he may suggest what would be good for them if you don't decide.
Robert and Louise is not a place to take children, only say that because it has Turkish Toilets, that freaks out the young ones.

oh geez, what's a turkish toilet?

and our kids are 16 and 19, btw. so not too young!

bookmarking

turkish toilets are the hole in the ground.
I hate them.!!

oh yes, didn't know that's what they're called, but we've had our fair share of them in italy and greece!
my daughter can't stand them either!!!

Hi Dina:

Rillettes are meats that are made into a spread. They are sold at every grocery store and charcuterie store. The more expensive ones are made with goose grease (gras d'oie). They are very addictives if you are a meat eater!

Here is an article from the LA Times: http://tiny.cc/UOKHR

If your kids are 16 and 19, they will probably like the 404-lots of young people.

Yumm! Thanks, Jpie. I live in the LA area, so i especially enjoyed the article.

Hi dina4:

We live in LA as well now-although we are Paris part time. We spent 3 years in the neighborhood you are renting in Paris-so if I can help specifically about that area let me know-it is a great part of Paris

Thanks everyone -- we are also renting an apt in le Marais (via saintonge) this summer and this will be very helpful! We will be taking our teenage girls on their first trip to europe and will have a week in Paris

jpie --
if you're in LA now, you should try comme ca, if you haven't already. they have wonderful french food. it was mentioned in the article about rilletes you suggested i read. thanks for all your help. i will come back for more questions, i'm sure.

hamburger,
we're traveling with our teenagers as well. when is your trip?
have a great time!!

dina

I always like your photos, Patrick.

Hi Dina-thanks for the suggestion for comme ca-it is right in our neighborhood and I haven't tried it! But we just moved to this part of LA last summer when we moved back. Also, if you click on my profile, it has my email if you have questions-I love that part of the neighborhood in Paris so it is always nice to talk about it We are going to France this summer as well but will only have a day or so in Paris this time...oh well!

Dina4

We have now stayed on rue Rambuteau twice. The stretch between the Metro stop, until the street ends a few blocks east, is food heaven. Pain de Sucre is great, but there are two other wonderful bakeries. The one nearest the Pompidou, on the south side of the street, has wonderful sandwiches. But there are so many great food shops on this street, as well as wonderful takeout of a few varieties (Middle Eastern, Chinese, Italian) all good. A great cheese shop and an Italian salumneria. I have eaten myself into oblivion on rue Rambuteau.

La Gaigne is one of those bistronomique places. It was good and interesting.

Heading east toward Place des Vosges, if I had any money, I would have spent it all in the gorgeous shops. Look out if your kids like clothes.