Le Marais Tour

After missing the morning tour of the Left Bank, I made sure to arrive well in advance of the Marais tour. I found a small grocery store (is there any other kind in Paris?) and bought a pre-made salad, a bottle of water, and chocolate for lunch while I waited.

Our tour guide, Florent, showed up wearing Discover Walk's signature hot pink vest, which he ditched as quickly as possible. Florent, like all Discover Walk guides, is a native Parisian. He gives tours to pay his rent. Our tour had 28 people on it, each tips at the end of the walk.

The Marais. 

Marais in French means swamp. Until the 1200's, this area flooded. In the Middle Ages the king and the monks raised the ground, put the river bed under a road, and built up the area. It still maintains the feel of a city from the Middle Ages. Because it was spared Baron Haussmann's 19th century razing of Paris, the 17th century hotels particuliers (private mansions) still stand, as do the twisty, narrow roads. Haussmann ignored this area stretching between the 3rd and 4th arrondisments because it was deemed not worthy -- it was where the Jewish and other poorer people lived. Until the 1980's it was still a cheap place to live (at least cheap by Parisian standards). Today it is one of the most expensive parts of town filled with art galleries, hipsters, gay people, and Jews.  

Sounds like it is quite amazing the area has maintained its charmed. In addition to Haussmann's plan, in 1925 there was a plan to build a 200 meter tower, and in the 1940's and 1950's there were plans to destroy the factories and workshops (some of which have since been renovated into art galleries). In the 1990's, the area became trendy. Rents are around 1000 euros a month ($1,100), which the woman from Boston and I looked at each other and agree sounds like a bargain to us.

Florent showed us an entre cour et jardin he recently discovered. Basically a mansion between a courtyard and a garden, which separates the rich from the poor. They have huge doors for carriages to enter. During the French Revolution these homes were abandoned by the aristocrats, so the poor people moved in. They found the homes too expensive to heat, so they abandoned them, too. Today many of the courtyards are open to the public and the homes have been turned into art galleries.

Florent points to a restaurant down the rue de Bearn with a green awning and tells us this is a good Provencal restaurant, and affordable by Parisian standards. 

We walked into Place des Vosges, which used to be the Place Royale. The square is surrounded by buildings that have a similar style, but are each different. One side was the Queen's side. Across the square 

was the King's side. It was the place of duels. The original 1639 statue of King Louis XIII was made of bronze and melted during the French Revolution. In 1829 the statue was rebuilt with the same proportional mistake made in the first one -- the man is bigger than the horse, therefore a trunk had to be added to make it stay upright. 

It is little things like this that bring Paris alive.

Florent pointed out the City Museum (Musee Carnavalet) which has works of art by Victor Hugo (yes, the author) in it and is free, but I didn't make it there. Turns out the museum is closed for renovations. Hopefully on a future trip.

It is a quiet area where birds can be heard chirping even though we are in the middle of a major city.

I have some random notes about places we passed on our walk ... the Hotel de Sully, the National Monument Center, Roman Emperor St. Antoine, St. Catherine' Market Square, Le Marche, but no notes to flesh out these thoughts.

We walked through the early 1600's St. Paul St. Louis Church from the counter reformation era. It has the cross above the crest of the king to show the church is above the king. The Jesuit church's preacher was famous for having five hour sermons, so people brought their own toilet pots in order to not miss anything. That is dedication.

We passed an iced tea company giving out bottles of free iced tea. Free doesn't happen very often in Paris, or in most major cities.

We passed Hector Guimard Synagogue. Outside the synagogue men were selling fruit and palms

as symbols of Sukkot. Nancy told me the correct names for these. She showed me theirs after I came home.

Florent led us to a garden he said has been open since 2014. It includes part of the original 1190 wall and tower that surrounded Paris. Homes were built into the city wall. In the 1940's when the homes were destroyed (assuming during World War II, even though Paris in general did not suffer a lot of damage, this was the historically Jewish section), parts of the city wall were rediscovered.

Now for something serious ... Le Marais is home to the War of the Falafel. They take their falafel very seriously. It is between L'as du Falafel built in 1979 and Miznon, owned by Top Chef of Israel. Read the article for more details. I thought about buying a falafel, but could not make up my mind, and it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner.

Onwards to the rue du Roi de Siecle, a 14th-15th century street filled with pointed roofed homes, a style that has since been outlawed in an effort to keep fires from jumping from one home to the next.

A chocolate shop and pastry shop, both award winning, were pointed out.

On our left were two of the oldest homes in Paris -- half-timber houses built in the 1300's and renovated in the 1960's. 

Now for the somber moment of the tour. Before World War II, 110,000 Jews lived here. A quarter were deported. On the wall of the Memorial de la Shoah is a list of people recognized for rescuing Jews. Inside the memorial are ashes from death camps. Names

were still being added to the list up until a few years ago as more people were willing to come forward as Jewish supporters.

Our next stop was St.Gervais-St. Portais church. My notes say the church took 120 years to build. They started building in the back so people could worship while the church was being built -- something I hear said about the construction of other churches. Reading the article I linked to, sounds like it took over 200 years to build. Since

the 3rd century a church has stood in that location (making it the oldest church in Paris), but this church was started in 1494 and was not finished until 1620. Its big claim to fame is its organ -- the oldest in Paris. From 1656-1826 it was played on by eight members of the Couperin family. The style of the church is Gothic-Gargolyne. Bombs fell on the church during a World War II church service. The stained glass windows are a newer addition.

Across the street at the mayor's house Mayor Anne Hidelgo -- the city's first woman mayor -- turned the roads in front of the river into beaches and pedestrian zones.

Florent ended the tour by pointing out Bertillon ice cream -- the most famous ice cream in Paris. At his recommendation I had the salted butter caramel ice cream. It was even richer than the Salt and Straw in Portland, Oregon.

After having some ice cream, I went to Disneyland Paris to pick up my race bib. I hope they come up with a better system for next year.