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Walk 3: The Marais |
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My Paris Walks Walk 1: Paris and Chocolate Walk 2: Left Bank Walk 4: Ile de la Cité |
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We begin in Place des Vosges and explore the unknown history of the Marais south of Rue Saint Antoine from the 1920's to the 1950s. A
mixture of anti-Semitism plus a blockheaded approach to urban planning was a disaster here. The casual stroller has no idea of the dramas
played out at virtually every corner of this historic quarter. The tiny Rue Eginhard provides a surreal mix of 17th century Paris urbanism
and the atrocities of German occupied Paris in the 1940s. A few steps away is the largest standing remnant of the Philippe Auguste wall
dating from 1200. Medieval Paris is palpable. A Walk through the Village Saint Paul shows us an urban slum turned into an urban jewel after thoughtful renovation. Down the street we encounter a site of high crime - the story of the infamous poisoner Madame de Brinvilliers, and adjacent one of the worst examples of Paris vandalism committed by the man who founded the Samaritaine department store. Handkerchiefs are provided. A few steps away is the Hotel de Sens, one of the few medieval structures remaining in Paris and the site of an extraordinary story involving love, jealousy and revenge. At the heart of this drama is La Reine Margot, spurned wife of Henri IV. The rest of this walk takes us weaving through the centuries past ancient buildings that have miraculously survived despite the best laid plans of lunkheaded Paris urban planners, or colossal failures that result from the same bureaucratic thinking. Along the way we celebrate those who saved the Marais from destruction in the mid-20th century as we visit the site of Paris Historique in Rue Francois Miron. This building dates from 1585 and was saved from demolition by dedicated individuals who labored over twenty years to restore it. A visit to the 14th century cellar induces involuntary shaking of the head and the thought "What were they thinking!" as we ponder the city's plan to demolish this site. We end the walk at Metro Saint Paul, a site of death and destruction in World War I when a German bomb landed here and today a place of wonderful hustle and bustle. Click here to go back to the main My Paris Walks page. |
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 Place des Vosges.  Hotel de Sens. Click here to go back to the main My Paris Walks page. |