Tuesday in the Marais

I can't believe it was four weeks ago that we were in Paris.  Where has the time gone??!!

We spent that Tuesday in the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement.  I stayed there in 2007 when I first spent a week in Paris and I fell in love with the area.  It is quite unique, as it combines a mix of many different cultures from its long history of being a popular place to live within the city.

There are lots of unusual and beautiful buildings, not the least of which is one of my personal favourites, the Hotel Sens:

We did a two hour Paris Walks through the neighbourhood in the morning.  Here's our tour guide, Oriel (she and her husband run the company) pointing out something above.

then sat on the sidewalk of the Victor Hugo cafe for lunch, a restaurant on the corner of the serene square that is the Place des Vosges.

Our cab driver Amadeus had recommended this restaurant on our ride in from the airport on our first day.  He did not steer us wrong, it was a delicious meal.

Lorraine and I reviewing le menu

Lisa's Croque Madame on top,
with my salad shown below.

Afterwards, we visited the Victor Hugo museum, located in a house in which he and his family used to live, on another corner of the same square.

the dining room

Victor's bedroom

As you may know, Mr. Hugo wrote both Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There are many pieces of artwork within the museum having to do with both novels.

We then walked through the Marais to the Carnavalet Museum, described as "one of the most genuinely Parisienne museums".  It is both a museum dedicated to the history of the city of Paris and an art gallery, which makes for quite an interesting combination.  It is situated within two townhouses and is quite a pretty building all on its own, although the facade was covered in mesh when we visited as it is undergoing a restoration.

We discovered several artists at work within the museum itself.  I was impressed that they were allowed to sit and make sketches of the artwork on display, not all museums permit this.

After the museum, we started making our way back to our accommodations.  Along the way, we stopped in to sample some ice cream at a cute little bistro located near St. Paul's Church.

Lisa having ice cream

Refreshed from our ice cream and our admiration for the cute French waiter who served it, we continued walking back to our accommodations but first went looking for a store called "Au Petit Bonheur La Chance" Lorraine had read about here online which specializes in vintage French goodies.  It was quite a treat to see inside the store, as there was an impressive collection of anything and everything crammed into every square inch of the small space

but the prices were outrageously expensive, so our purchases were rather subdued.

Dinner that night was at a creperie down the street from where we were staying.

Another lovely day in Paris!