Paris The Marais (3ème, 4ème)

The Marais is the ultimate ugly duckling tale. Originally all bog—the name “Marais” literally translates to “swamp”—the area became remotely liveable in the 13th century, when monks drained the land to provide building space for the Right Bank. With Henri IV's construction of the glorious Place des Vosges at the beginning of the 17th century, the area ironically became the city's center of fashionable living; hôtels particuliers built by leading architects and sculptors abounded, as did luxury and scandal. During the Revolution, former royal haunts gave way to slums and tenements, and the majority of the hôtels fell into ruin or disrepair. The Jewish population, a presence in the Marais since the 12th century, grew with influxes of immigrants from Russia and North Africa, but suffered tragic losses during the Holocaust. In the 1960s, the Marais was once again revived when it was declared a historic neighborhood. Since then, more than thirty years of gentrification, renovation, and fabulous-ization have restored the Marais to its pre-Revolutionary glory. Once-palatial mansions have become exquisite museums, and the tiny twisting streets are covered with hip bars, avant-garde galleries, and some of the city's most unique boutiques. rue des Rosiers, in the heart of the 4ème, is still the center of the city's Jewish population, though the steady influx of hyper-hip clothing stores threatens its existence. Superb kosher delicatessens neighbor Middle Eastern and Eastern European restaurants, and on Sundays, when much of the city is closed, the Marais remains lively. As if it didn't already have it all, the Marais is also unquestionably the center of gay Paris, with its hub at the intersection of rue Ste-Croix de la Brettonerie and rue Vieille du Temple. Though the steady stream of tourists has begun to wear away the Marais's eclectic personality, the district retains its signature charm: an accessible and fun mix of old and new, queer and straight, cheap and chic.

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