Looking for hotel in August. Want to stay in the gay Marais. What is a pretty street?

Thin

Thin, I only remember thinking the areas around Place des Vosges and PIcasso Museum were nice. Can't help with specific streets, but when I googled 'hotel near place des vosges' some pretty scenes came up. Hope someone has better info for you.

It's funny, I never think of the Marais as being "pretty," but it is of course both picturesque and atmospheric. The whole area was a complete slum until about 1975. Obviously some streets are better than others, but you can barely walk down them in August because they are so crowded. In terms of the Gay Marais, rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie was the first street completely "taken over" (for anybody who fears that it was an invasion). These days, I would tend to say that the backbone of the area is rue Vieille du Temple. Basically, all of the streets behind the Pompidou Center comprise the gay district. As you approach the area of Place des Vosges, most of it fades away. Last year the city of Paris painted rainbow stripes on the crosswalks, but most of it has now faded away.

I've stayed in and around the Marais for years, including August and it's not any more crowded than other parts of central Paris. Like many areas in cities, it has busy and bustling streets and very quiet ones just around the corner.
I don't really find it that gay. But I guess it's all relative.
1975 was 45 years ago. A lot of neighbourhoods change in 45 years.

And the Marais has changed since then, because it didn't use to be the "gay ghetto." That was rue Sainte Anne near Palais Royal which is now the heart of the Japanese district.

If you have not noticed the gayness of the Marais, you are not very observant, Walkinaround, just like people who don't see that Ile Saint Louis is the "lesbian island." It's all good, though. Most people find what they are looking for.

The best hotel in the Marais is Pavillon de la Reine, right on the beautiful Place des Vosges.

I'm stating at the Hotel de la Bretonnerie in two weeks for a long weekend

Yawn...I was not doubting that Marais is gay and I am aware that it's well known for being gay. My point was that it's not feel as gay as many other places known for being "gay villages". Unless it's really flamboyant and a "celebration" of gay life, I barely notice so you can say that I'm not observant to these things if you want. I've lived in large cities all my life in the central/desirable or upcoming areas where lots of gay people live so I hardly notice or try to count people who look like same sex couples. To me the Marais just seems like any big-city fashionable neighbourhood that's not really known for being a gay neighbourhood. Provincetown in July or Old Compton Street, it is not.

Sunday is in my opinion the best day for the Marais as it's the neighborhood where stores remain open, and lots of foot traffic. I've enjoyed eating at one of the restaurants bordering the Place de Voges.

You can't even walk down rue des Francs Bourgeois on a Sunday afternoon because it is so overcrowed. I avoid the area like poison, but perhaps it isn't as bad now that the shops are open on Sunday in the rest of Paris.

"Pretty" is not an adjective I associate with the Marais, perhaps save the Place des Vosges. Interesting, historic, maybe even charming, but also gritty and downright tawdry in places. As is so often the case, the pioneering pooftahs who gentrified the swamp were priced out of the area, along with many if not most of the Jewish businesses. There are some interesting shops, though many are just too precious for words. Unless you are in the market for a dirty weekend experience, I'd look elsewhere. The Haut Marais has a different feel, sort of BoHo but not totally co-opted. And there's the Marche des Enfants Rouges and the recently renovated Picasso museum to fill one's belly and one's soul.

Hi Pepper v.s.,

Well, I will try to answer the question as asked -- and I find the Marais very very pretty and charming.

Two of the prettiest streets are Rue de Tr�sor and Rue des Rosiers, imo. However, each one is tiny, and Tr�sor is a dead-end. Also, I don't know of any hotels nearby, sadly.

I also think Place Sainte-Catherine is a very pretty little square, and I do think there are some hotels nearby (Hotel Jean d'Arc le Marais and Hotel Caron, both 3 stars, and the 2 star Hotel Pratic).

Wow, I've stayed on Ile St Louis three times and never knew it was considered a lesbian area. I'm an old, single, white woman, and I never noticed.

Also... now all the shops are open in Paris on Sunday?? Wow, that's news. Is that recent?

Have fun!

s

https://en.parisinfo.com/shopping/on-sunday-too

Merci, kerouac! But I didn't see a date on that page. I was there in Jan (I think you know), and I don't think stores were open. But it's entirely possible that I just didn't notice.....

s

I agree about staying in the Pavillon de la Reine which abuts, more or less, the Place de Voges considered, by some, the prettiest square in the city. We have stayed there mainly to attend opera performances either nearby at the Bastille or via Metro to the Garnier.

I agree that "pretty" is not a word I would associate with that district and recently we stayed near the St. Paul Metro stop (instead) and that area was anything but pretty IMO

We often stay these days in the 11th at the fringes of the haut Marais. I can't speak to what constitutes "gay Marais," but I can confirm that the hordes of tourists on the main streets around the Place des Vosges in mid- to late summer are daunting - you can hardly make your way down the street without encountering herds of tourists pulling rollaboards and sporting selfie-sticks, clogging up the sidewalks. We were last there in August 2018, but are there often. It IS more crowded than other parts of popular Paris.

There are prettier spots in Paris, Thin.

There are a couple of "establishments" in so-called "gay Marais" that really are in a swamp of sorts; kinda like the NYC Mineshaft but with bubbly.

Thanks for the recommendation for Jules & Jim Hotel; it looks great.

Keith and I like the Marais. We had lunch at L'Ange 20 in December and liked the vibe of the neighborhood. We just adore the Place des Vosges and the Rue Vieille du Temple.

Thin🐩

i do prefer the 11th on the other side of Bastille. Very close to the Marais but I like it better. Off the spine of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antione. More around/just past Ledru-Rollin from Bastille.

I frankly think it's silly to characterise a whole neighbourhood as "too crowded" just because there are some crowded streets in it. Last time I stayed in the Marais I stayed in an AirBnB on Rue des Tournelles very close to and just south of L'ange 20 - near the synagogue. No selfie sticks but the guys guarding the synagogue had machine guns. Hmmm...not sure which is worse...people with selfie sticks or people with machine guns. No (gasp) touristy looking people. Only very intense and serious looking French people. I don't think I even heard any English (that would have ruined everything) and thankfully everyone said 'Bonjour' upon entering the shops. There are restaurants and other small businesses on the street so it's hardly a no-man's land and to some degree, a 'through' street. Still very quiet and no problems at all with crowds. The flat had a courtyard in the block and it was perfectly quiet with birds chirping. Extremely close to Place des Vosges as the crow flies.

As stated, I like the 11th better but that was a very pleasant place to stay as were my other stays in the Marais.