Welcome to Le Marais’ favorite shopping street! Le Marais is one of the few areas of Paris where the shops are legally allowed to be open on Sundays, so Parisians and visitors alike can be found enjoying both sightseeing and shopping on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Sunday has always been considered a sacred day in France and most people wouldn’t think of working. Thankfully things are changing, and now shops in the more touristy areas of the city are being permitted to open Sundays. Rue des Francs Bourgeois offers a great mix of fashion, chic boutiques and home design, plus restaurants and cultural places to visit.
Start your day at the corner of rue des Archives. Make a stop in the magnificent Hotel de Soubise, a museum of French history and national archives. Part of the building is medieval, with the main part in classical 17th century French design. Visit the lovely inner garden, even if only for a five-minute break. If you travel in the direction of Place des Vosges, on the south side of the street you will pass by what the French call “Chez ma tante” (“At my auntie”), the Credit Municipal (number 55). This is a special city run bank that operates like a pawnshop – it will lend you money in exchange for any valuable piece of art, clothing or furnishings. Once you pay back the loan, they will return your belongings. In French society, borrowing money was considered shameful; no one wanted to admit they had to borrow from the Credit Municipal so they would say “I got some money from my auntie.” This is how the institution got its nickname – nice to know that family can be so accommodating!
Continue further up the street on the same side and you’ll discover a secret door that connects to a great baroque church des Blancs-Manteaux which holds classical concerts every Sunday. The other exit and main entrance is in the street below, rue des Blancs Manteaux, famous for its café-theatres.
If you would like to treat yourself to a total facial and relaxing massage, check out Nickel (number 48), the first beauty salon for men – sorry ladies! (But don’t despair, there are many other salons for women like Origins, or Mac… Just take a look in our “Beauty and Spa” pages.)
The serious shopper will be delighted by the many chic boutiques, such as Zadig & Voltaire, where you’ll find top quality French design at affordable prices. There are too many shops to list here, but just take a walk down the street and you’ll discover them all!
If you notice a beautiful “jardin à la française” behind a heavy, gold-plated, iron grill door, you are now facing Carnavalet Museum and gardens. Once the home of Madame de Sévigné, one of King Louis XIV’s favorites, this gorgeous palace is now the Paris History Museum.
Thanks to Bertrand Delanoé, our Mayor since 2001, the museum is free to visit, as are other city run museums such as Musée Cognacq-Jay, the baroque museum (8, rue Elzévir), and Victor Hugo’s house in Place des Vosges (number 6). Mr, Delanoé and his attaché in charge of culture, Mr. Girard, decided that French culture should be accessible to everyone for free, a decision well received by all Parisians. Why pay to go to Disneyland when you can enjoy a real castle for nothing? You will have to pay to see some of the temporary exhibitions showing in these museums, but the permanent collections are open free to the public, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, closed on Mondays.
At the corner of rue des Francs Bourgeois and rue Pavée, you may notice a funny little tower with the French word “échauguette”. Here you will find the architectural library of Paris housed in the majestic Hotel Lamoignion. If you wish to buy old city maps or any books related to the history of Paris, this bookshop is the place to find them.
When you exit the Carnavalet Museum on rue de Sévigné, take your time to explore the street, stopping in the numerous elegant shops such as Autour du Monde, Bensimon, La chaise Longue, Monic for jewels, Paris Musées for antique copies, L’occitane, Fragonard and Esteban for perfumes. A-poc from Issey Miyaké and Barbara Bui for clothing and Millefeuille for decoration.
On rue de Sévigné you may also meet “Paris’ sexiest men” – the pompiers or firemen. They are fortunate to have their fire station in a wonderful “hotel particulier” designed by François Mansart, architect of Louis XIV, who built half of Versailles and many other fabulous houses in Le Marais. On Bastille Day the firemen open their doors to the public for the popular “Bal des Pompiers,” an open air ball, and one of the hottest places in Paris to meet the man or woman of your dreams (see our gallery “Summertime in Paris”). If you’re in Paris for Bastille Day, this is a must!
The next street over is rue de Turenne, where, after so much shopping, you may want to stop for a “chocolat chaud” or a drink at the Café Baci. Or perhaps you would prefer a late lunch at a terrace in Place des Vosges, just a few steps away.
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