Travel
A Guide to Le Marais, Paris
Travel with me to the 4th in Paris, and discover its many secrets…
EAT
And finally, after all of this walking and shopping, you’ll be exhausted and will want to grab something from one of Paris’s many famed restaurants. I’d highly recommend Popelini, which serves profiteroles with creamy centers and lemon, caramel, and pistachios (these mouth-watering snacks are the craze overtaking macaroons and cupcakes as Paris’s new hot-thing that you simply must try). Also be sure to hit up Caffe Boboli, a scrumptious vegan delight, Chez Janou, a local favorite with great vegan pasta, and the Au Bourguignon du Marais for a classic French dinner, replete with escargot and a fabulous red wine that will leave you saying “merci bien.”
The Marais has many, many cozy restaurants. I loved my vegan mushroom pasta at Chez Janou!
If one thing is for sure, your trip to the Le Marais will be one of the most fun, thought-provoking, and deeply moving experiences of your life. At least it was for me. Staying in a royal palace, exploring architecture and history that has shaped our world (even to today), and getting lost in museums, restaurants, and galleries is an unforgettable experience I will always treasure from my visit. I’ll also always treasure my discovery of the 4th’s “secret” I was telling you about. What is it, you might ask? I can’t tell you. You’ll have to go and find out for yourself.
ELSA
Paris is beautiful. The Chinese tourists are not. I don’t know what reason they have for going there but they claimed the city their own. Spitting everywhere, being obnoxious like they own everything. Disgusting.
Helena Lowson
There are plenty of nice streets, great restaurants, amazing stores. All you need is to quit the tourist path and make your own. Paris is full of surprises, just find them!
Emily Foulkes
Just stayed for a week – bustling, without too many tourists. Great area for walking, cafes, and the like. Interesting museums in the Marais or nearby. Definitely will stay in the area next time.
Daisy Clarke
I love this hip little area. We stayed in an old art gallery that had been converted to an apartment. There are tons of restaurants around and Centre Pompidou is right there. Lots of little clothing stores.
Frances Seifert
We stayed in a flat in Le Marais on vacation recently. I’ve been to Paris many times and never spent much time in this area. It’s a great location for a base of operations. Away from the noise and the crowds, a neighborhood full of locals.
Ayla Pennington
Hard to believe you have so much to discover in Paris ! Alone in the Marais, you should see the ‘Place des Vosges’ buily by Henri IV and one of the 8 museums to be found there, as well as fabulous fountains and old 17th century buildings and fabulous roofs and carpentry works with high ceilings…
Deborah Henry
Love it there! If you can’t afford the big names and want to see originality, Le Marais offers a variety of boutiques and stores at a fair value. There are a lot of discounters selling the flavor of yesterday, but dig deeper and find something a little different.
Catherine White
Let’s be honest – all of Paris, Haussmann re-designing or no, is atmospheric and full of romance. But the Marais, even as it becomes more upscale as it gentrifies, retains an old-fashioned Bohemian quality. Wandering the streets, stopping at a cafe, drinking it all in, that’s where it’s at.
Leah Helms
Le Marais helps you adjust your pace and regain a certain calm. It is a meeting with times gone by and it invites you to a tourism, which makes you see, really see and not only though the lens of the camera. 🙂
Melissa Princeton
We went to le Marais to see some of Paris as it was before the big changes under Napoleon III. Hidden gardens were great but so little else is left and the street is still wide. You get a better idea of it from Avignon or old Lyon, I think.