Le Marais
In the 12th century, the order of the temple cleared the marsh lands located to the north of the Philippe Auguste wall.
Beginning in the 16th century, but mostly after the creation of the royal square (later the Vosges square ) by Henri IV in 1605, the aristocracy built beautiful houses there.
The move from the royal residence to the Louvre then to Versailles marked the beginning of the decline of the marshes, the high society preferred, more or less the districts ( faubourgs ) of saint Honore and Saint Germain .
In the 19th century, the marshes became more and more populated with industries and production. The city planning regulations by Haussmann enforced regulations that tried to progressively make the old streets larger and wider. But the number of old buildings that had not been destroyed made most streets quite irregular.
At the turn of this century, the Jewish quarter moved in around the Rosiers street which took in many arrivals from central europe and completed the woven structure of small artisans in the quarter. But the buildings of the marshes were hardly maintained, even the beautiful houses were disfigured by the warehouses and adventitious workshops.
In 1969, andré Malraux made the marshes the first ‘protected sector' by applying the law of protection of the country's heritage. This brought about another social mutation of the quarter. Many workshops had diminished, the middle class and the performance artists plus the gay community moved in with their multicolored flags that they hung up around the sainte croix de la bretonnerie street.
Today, the marshes have rediscovered their mansion houses but have lost the artistic life that once existed there which some regret bitterly. On Sundays, the clothing and decoration shops attract a large crowd especially around Francs-Bourgeois street .
Despite radical transformations over the centuries, the French capital has never lost its atmosphere of history. But today's Paris is also a modern metropolis, and it has changed considerably during the last two decades. Fewer people now live there, many run-down areas have been smartened up and the system of transport has grown and grown.
An introduction to Paris
Paris is a city of 2.1 million inhabitants with lot of hotels like the Marais Bastille Hotel. It covers an area of 104 square kilometres divided into unequal halves by the River Seine, which runs east-west. These two parts are known as the Left Bank and the Right Bank.
Paris has constantly grown and changed over the centuries, from the original settlement of Lutetia, conquered by Julius Caesar in 52 B.C., to the modern capital it is today. Nevertheless, though kings, emperors and presidents may have changed the face of Paris, the city has always been the heart of France. It is a heart that beats in time with all of its varied districts affluent residential areas in the west, poorer housing in the east, concentrations of government departments, financial districts and student quarters around the the main universities.
But the last thirty years have seen such massive changes that the word 'metamorphosis' is no exaggeration. There is a distinction to be made between historic Paris and modern Paris.
Historic Paris
Paris grew up around the Ile de la Cité. The boat-shaped island is still central today, and at its stern towers Notre-Dame, the cathedral of Paris, which took from 1163 to 1330 to build.
For a long time the Cité was the sole centre of activity in Paris, as we can see from the position of several important buildings. The Palais de Justice (law courts) occupies the site of the first palace of the kings of France, which stood there in the tenth century. Close by, we find the marvellous 13th-century Sainte Chapelle.
On the other side of the Seine, the Right Bank, stands the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), an imposing late nineteenth-century edifice which is the preserve of the Mayor of Paris.
The Marais district to the west of the Hôtel-de-Ville and close to the Hotel Marais bastille, is one of the oldest in Paris. The Place des Vosges, formerly the Place Royale, an exquisite square of stone and red-brick buildings, was designed for King Henri IV of France in the sixteenth century. The many beautiful hôtels particuliers (private mansions) in the area, of which a large number have been restored and turned into museums such as the Picasso Museum, the Musée de la Ville de Paris and the Archives de France, give the Marais one of the strongest atmospheres of history of anywhere in Paris.
Back on the Left Bank, if we go uphill, we find the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, one of the seven hills that circle the original city, and the Latin Quarter. Its centre is the Sorbonne, which was founded in 1253 and is the oldest university in France, but it also includes the Collège de France founded by François 1er in 1530, and the Pantheon, which contains the ashes of many of the great French figures since the Revolution.
Further west, we come to the Romanesque church of Saint-Germain-des-Près, which is one of the oldest is Paris and was once the hub of literary and artistic activity. Nowadays the writers and artists are gradually being ousted by shops and restaurants.
A short walk takes us to the Institut. Founded by Cardinal Richelieu in the seventeenth century, the Institut looks onto the Seine and is the seat of the Académie française, whose forty members meet there once a week to add new words to the dictionary of the French language.
Further west we find more history in the shape of the Louvre. The Palais du Louvre was once a royal residence (Leonardo da Vinci was among the Renaissance artists invited there by King François I) and became a museum after the French Revolution. Since the recent massive alterations, the Louvre is the biggest museum in the world. The recent additions of a 22-metre glass pyramid in one of its courtyards and new exhibition rooms, many of them dealing with Ancient Egypt, have made the Louvre even more prestigious than before.
Behind the Louvre, the Palais Royal, built by Cardinal Richelieu and restored in 1871, is now home to the Ministry of Culture.
The Tuileries gardens, which were designed in the seventeenth century, extend from the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde, with its famous Egyptian obelisk.
Modern Paris
The Eiffel Tower best represents the transition from historic Paris to modern Paris. The 300-metre iron monster that has come to symbolize Paris for people all over the world was built for the Universal Exhibition in 1889. Immediately opposite, the Palais de Chaillot, designed for the 1937 Universal Exhibition, shows clearly that Paris had entered the twentieth century and with it the modern era.
But it was in the second half of the century that Paris was to undergo a/its real metamorphosis.
In the south-west part of the city, on the Left Bank, the Tour Maine-Montparnasse, which was built on the site of a former railway station, rivals the Eiffel Tower and even the Empire State Building with its 56 storeys.
On the Right Bank, not far from the Hôtel de Ville, is the Pompidou Centre, sometimes also known as Beaubourg after the area in which it was built/stands, an impressive Modern Art museum and open-access public library. Although its appearance was greeted with cries of horror (the Eiffel Tower had a similar reception in its day), the Centre Pompidou is one of the most popular and frequently visited places in Paris.
So from culture to hobbies and sports. In 1983, the huge Palais Omnisports stadium was built at Bercy, in the east of Paris. Although primarily a sports stadium, the building also hosts concerts, operas, ballets, circuses and other types of show.
Major projects in recent years
La Bibliothèque de France (Library of France)
The Library was designed by architect Dominique Perrault and opened in 1996. Its four 80-metre, 18-storey towers in the shape of open books surround a 12,000 square metre garden lined with shops. Book stores containing 11.5 million books and 350,000 periodicals occupy 11 floors, and 7 are taken up by offices. The reading-rooms and private research areas, which have space for 2,046 readers at a time, are near the bases of the four blocks, which can be found on the Left Bank, not far from the Gare d'Austerlitz.
La Grande Arche (The Grand Arch of La Défense)
Based on plans by the Danish architect Otto Von Spreckelsen, the Grand Arch is an open cube whose sides measure 100 metres. It marks a sort of frontier between Paris and the suburbs, and is reached via a huge staircase. The arch contains the offices of several ministries, as well as of private firms, and receives 100,000 visitors every month.
The Louvre Pyramid
The glass pyramid is the creation of Asian-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, who refurbished the Grand Louvre palace between 1981 and 1983. It is formed by 739 diamond-shaped and triangular panes of glass and measures 22 metres at its apex.
The Opéra-Bastille (Bastille Opera House)
A massive glass-fronted geometrical building, the new opera house at Bastille seats 2,700 and was inaugurated on 14th July 1989 for the bicentenary of the French Revolution. Uruguayan Carlos Ott was the architect.
La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (Science and Industry Village)
The new science village, designed by Adrien Fainsilber and opened in March 1986, combines the metal structure of the old Grande Halle (meat market) with new glass and steel buildings. The largest building is surrounded by water.
But the real symbol of the Cité des Sciences is the Géode, a gleaming sphere 36 metres across containing a cinema with the largest hemispherical screen in the world.
South of the Cité, you will find the 35-hectare Parc de la Villette, as well as the Cité de la Musique, where musical events and workshops take place, and the Museum of Music. To the east is the Zénith concert venue, which holds 6400 people. In all, the Cité is visited by about 5 million people every year.
The Stade de France (Stadium of France)
This vast stadium, designed for the 1998 World Cup which took place last June-July, is the most recent of the huge public building works undertaken during the Fifth Republic. It is located in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, 1.7 kilometres outside Paris and 15 kilometres from Roissy Airport, and was built on industrial waste-ground. Access is via the motorway that links Paris with the north, or alternatively by metro or two RER (suburban express-link) trains. The public transport access can cater for a flow of 30,000 people per hour.
At first sight, the sweeping lines of the stadium are reminiscent of the outline of a vast spaceship. It is 43 metres high, made up of soft-edged shapes in glass and steel, with a roof weighing 13,000 metric tonnes (one and a half times the weight of the Eiffel Tower). This roof hangs by shrouds from eighteen steel needles and houses the overhead lighting-system of 550 spotlights; the sound-system of 36 loudspeakers; and two giant screens, each with a surface area of 120 square metres. At the top is a vast tinted skylight, which covers 1 hectare of the 6-hectare surface area of the roof.
Its 80,000 seating capacity makes it the biggest stadium in France and one of the biggest in Europe. Its stands can be altered to suit the type of event (it holds 80,000 spectators football or rugby , 75,000 athletics spectators or concert-goers, 30,000 for motorcycle competitions and 18,000 for different types of concert), adjustable enclosures and high-definition lighting.
_ To build the Stade de France took 40,000 elevations, 42,000 tonnes of steel, twenty-five months and 2.7 billion francs (of which 47% was State funding and 53% came from a consortium of civil engineering firms which undertook the construction of the stadium and its management until 2,025. This consortium signed a convention regarding use of the stadium over a fifteen-year period, with the French Football and Rugby Federations, in which they agreed to four rugby matches a year and ten football matches over two years.
_ The stadium was designed by a team of four architects, of whom the best-known, Michel Macary, was involved in the Grand Louvre project.
_ By the year 2001, the stadium should be surrounded by shops, restaurants, offices and sports centres covering an area of ten hectares.
The Stade de France was officially opened on 28th January 1998 for a match between France and Spain. On 10th June, it was the venue for the first match of the 1998 World Cup, between Brazil and Scotland. On 12th July, France won the final against Brazil.
Changing Paris
The Population
In 1920, Paris had 2.9 million inhabitants the highest figure in the city's history.
Nowadays, barely two million people live in Paris. Since 1962, over half a million people have left the city, some to live in other areas, but most to live in the suburbs.
The rising cost of buying or renting accommodation is the main reason why people have left. Decentralisation of some industries and the construction of large numbers of office blocks have also played an important part in this population decrease in Paris.
Parisians' Surroundings
Large-scale town planning operations have been carried out in tandem with grandiose building projects.
In the east and south-east of the city, whole districts have been renovated, following the demolition of dilapidated buildings and the construction of modern housing estates. The Marais quarter has been restored; and near the Lyon and Montparnasse railway stations, which have themselves been modernised or rebuilt, new districts have been created around centres of tertiary sector activity.
These town planning initiatives may have given some districts a facelift, but they have provoked an outcry from lovers of "the old Paris". They have resulted in more and more acres of concrete housing estates and steel-and-glass tower-blocks, and have made Paris look increasingly like many other big cities all over the world. These same projects have forced Parisians who are not well-off to leave the city to wealthier sectors of society.
Transport
Several types of public transport are available to Parisians travelling in the city and its suburbs: the metro (underground), buses, RER (suburban express train) and trains.
Since the first metro line was opened in 1900, 14 more lines and 372 stations serve the underground network of Paris. Parisians can cover over 200 km in trains which are regularly replaced and modernised. The Parisian metro is cheap, fast and safe, and its system has been adopted by many cities elsewhere in the world (Montreal, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Athens, Santiago in Chile, Cairo and others).
You can also get around Paris by bus (which is pleasanter but not as fast): there are 55 bus-routes covering a total distance of 540 km.
To meet the constantly increasing demand for public transport, the S.N.C.F (State railway company) and the R.A.T.P. (Paris public transport company) joined forces to create the R.E.R. (suburban express train) , a sort of "supermetro" with 4 lines, 66 gares and 115 km of rails linking the capital with its north-western, south-western, north-eastern and south-eastern suburbs via numerous connections with the metro.
The S.N.C.F. also provide trains from all the Paris railway stations for people travelling to and from the suburbs.
As in all the world's big cities, you can of course take a taxi, but although there are almost 15,000 taxis in Paris, this is not enough and they are often caught in traffic jams.
Liveliest Paris quarters for eating or drinking
close to the Hotel Marais Bastille
Les Halles quarter (off one's rocker)
metro Etienne Marcel (line 4)
restaurant
Le Loup Blanc
42, rue Tiquetonne
01.40.13.08.35
Marais quarter
metro Rambuteau (line 11)
May be the most marvellous streets in Paris
rue de la Croix de la Bretonnerie,
rue des lombards,
rue Quincampoix,
rue des mateaux blancs
Bastille quarter (fashion)
metro Bastille (line 1, 5 & 8)
metro Bréguet Sabin (line 5)
restaurant (french food)
Café de l'Industrie
16, rue Saint Sabin
Various menu & typical french food for 100-150FF
restaurant (french food)
Chez Robert
15, rue Saint Sabin
bar/restaurant (tapas)
La Pirada
7, rue de Lappe
01.47.00.73.61
150 FF all included
Republique quarter (exciting)
metro Parmentier (ligne 3)
many bars and restaurants in rue Oberkampf
bar
La Mercerie
98, rue Oberkampf
01.43.38.81.30
decoration, atmosphere, a rambling bar... certainly a place to stop!
restaurant (french food)
Le 108
108, rue Oberkampf
01.56.98.10.20
Saint-Germain quarter (students)
metro Place Monge (line 7)
various cheap (100FF) restaurants (international as well as local food) in rue Mouffetard; animated on every night!
metro St-Germain des Prés & Saint-Sulpice (line 4), Odéon (line 4 & 10), Mabillon (line 10)
rue des canettes
bar/restaurant
O'Neil
20 rue des Canettes
01.46.33.36.66
They brew their own beer; flemmekueche are their speciality.
restaurant
Le Montagnard (mountain dweller food)
24, rue des Canettes
01.43.26.47.15
Saint-Michel quarter
metro st-Michel
may be try a Kebab... but you'ld better go to Les Caveaux de la Huchette, listening to live Jazz music.
metro Vavin ou Notre-Dame des Champs
restaurant (pizza)
La Mamma
46,rue Vavin
01.46.33.17.92
menu 69FF
Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris quarter
the restaurant of the Cité internationale
Situated at the heart of the Maison internationale, the restaurant of the Cité internationale is an excellent place for encounters and exchanges. The restaurant is authorized by Crous, and every day it accommodates over 4,500 Parisian students, not all of whom are residents of the Cité, offering varied menus and culinary specialties from the entire world.
Completely renovated in 1994, it is today reputed to be the best student restaurant in the Ile-de-France, both for the quality of the numerous dishes (french specialities,fresh noodles, pizza, grilled steak and chicken, fish, ...) it serves and its pleasant surroundings. The architecture of the dining room, which is surrounded by the park, and its excellent insonorisation make this communal space a genuine restaurant.
Since its renovation, the restaurant of the Cité internationale has been such a success that significant enlargements have been planned, with the goal of increasing its comfort and capacity of accommodation. In 2001, a new dining room with a terrace will open in the Maison internationale.
prices
15.75 FF for students and 30 FF for non-students. The price for student is equivalent to a Crous ticket that you can buy in the Cite or in Dauphine. Some suppléments can be asked for relatively to the number of plats.
openning hours
Monday to Saturday : from 11 h 45 a.m. to 2 h 30 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday: from 12 a.m à 2 h 30 p.m and from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Some suggestions in the neighborhood.
metro Mouton Duvernet
Jardins Contini (Italian food)
49 AVENUE DU GENERAL
LECLERC 75014 PARIS
01 .43.20.25.34
metro Alésia
Le Sawa (Cameroon food)
196 AVENUE DU MAINE
01.45.43.12.88
French specialities
Fish specialities
Vin et Marée
Montparnasse quarter
metro gaîté (line 13)
108, avenue du Maine
01.43.20.29.50
200 FF including wine
They serve very tasty grilled fishes... and propose full-flavoured wines
Creperie
Josselin
Montparnasse quarter
metro Edgar Quinet (line 6) or Montparnasse (line 4, 6, 12 & 13)
67, rue de Montparnasse
01.43.20.93.50
A little expensive for a creperie (around 50 francs a pancake), but you won't find cheaper in the aera; if you wanna taste one, no doubt: Josselin (also "Petit Josselin"), or nothing.
South-West specialities
A l'oie cendree
15th aera
metro plaisance (line 13)
Cassoulet (sheep or duck or goose with beans)
51, rue Labrouste
01.45.31.91.91
La Maison du Cassoulet
1st area
metro les Halles (line 4 & 14, or RER A, B & D)
15, rue de Montorgueil
Alsatian specialities
L'alsaco
9th area
metro Poisonnière (line 7) & Anvers (line 2)
10, rue Condorcet
01. 45. 26. 44. 31
from 60 FF to 105 FF the choucroute plate
(choucroute: cabbage and delicatessen )
Basque specialities
Gladines
13th area
metro Corvisart (line 6) & Place d'Italie (line 3, 5 & 7)
30, rue des Cinq-diamants
01.45.80.70.10
less than 100FF
Jacquot de Bayonne
12th area
metro Reuilly Diderot (line 1)
151, rue de Charenton
01.44.74.68.90
(cheap)
Provencal specialities
7eme sud
7th area, close to Invalides
metro La Tour-Maubourg (line 8)
159, rue de Grenelle
01.44.18.30.30
French fried Potatoes
Le petit Gavroche
4th area
metro Hotel de ville (line 1 & 11) or Rambuteau (line 11)
15, rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie
01.48.87.74.26
app. 100FF, Menu : 48FF
Hachis Parmentier (mashed potatoes and meat)
Au pied de Fouet
7th area
metro St-Francois Xavier (line 13)
45, rue de Babylone
01.47.05.12.27
a dish : 45 FF
Wine bars
Le clown bar
République quarter
metro St-Francois Xavier (line 13)
114, rue Amelot
01.43.55.87.35
Obviously a large choice of full-flavoured wines...
Taste many starters rather than a menu (oeufs en meurette)
200-300 FF... depending on the wines you choose!!!
Sandwiches
Bagel Place
metro Châtelet (line 1, 4, 7 & 11)
6, place Sainte-Opportune
from 20FF to 40FF
La Bottega Pastavino
Saint-Germain quarter
metro Mabillon
18, rue de Buci
30 FF
Ice-cream
Berthillon
on île Saint-Louis , a very nice place ! ! !
metro Pont Marie (line 7)
31, rue Saint-Louis-en-l'ile
01.43.54.31.61
exceptional ice-creams
It's time for a drink !
Pubs
and also
Le Violon Dingue
5th area, close to the Panthéon
metro Maubert Mutualité (line 10) or RER Luxembourg (line B)
46, rue de la Montagne Ste. Genevieve
It's worth the trip... only if you don't mind smoky atmosphere!
Pop In
République quarter
metro St-Sébastien Froissard (line 8)
105, rue Amelot
To hear some britt pop, sat on a sofa!
Le Syndicat
Bastille quarter
21, rue Keller
metro Bastille (line 1, 5 & 8)
The auld alliance ( close to the Hotel Marais Bastille )
The only Scottish bar in Paris, a unique atmosphere!
4th area, Marais quarter
metro Saint-Paul (line 1)
80, rue François Miron
Wanna try some haggis or just drink some Tennents?
Au dernier métro
15th area
metro Dupleix (line 6)
70, bd Grenelle
Various French food, beers and local wines... here you're bound to meet people!
Chesterfield Café
Champs-Elysée quarter
metro George V (line 1)
124, rue de la Boëtie
Live music!
Home | Hotel | Room | Location | Sightseeing
