My fave walk in Paris

wonderful Eiffel-shaped bento by Sakurako Kitsa

hello,

(more of my personal photos coming soon)

I live in the South of France now, where the scenery is like that :

...but I can tell you about my fave walk in Paris, as i lived there for 15 years.

Please start at métro Bastille or St-Paul. The walk is basically straight (from the Bastille to the place de la Concorde) but the street keeps changing names as you go along, so don't worry! From Bastille to St Paul Church, go down the St-Antoine street. You are entering the beautiful "Marais" area.

St-Paul Church and the Marais. Photo found here.

The Marais neighbourhood has become very gay-friendly, but is nice to everyone else too (lol) ! It's chock full of good cafés, pastries shops, art galleries, etc. please check out this very useful interactive map.

Try visiting the Hôtel de Sully (or Sully House) and now a museum - image is above. It has a wondeful garden on the back. Little secret : a small back door leads you to the Place des Vosges, built under Henri the XIIIth. Beautiful fountains and lovely French girls strolling by...

Rue des Rosiers - photo found here.

When you reach the St Paul métro station, step a little aside from St-Antoine street and have a look at the Jewish street called rue des Rosiers. Nice fallafels and Jewish delights there. You can learn more about the Jewish Marais here.
Then walk straight ahead from East to West where the street becomes rue de Rivoli. You may step on the other side and visit rue François Miron and rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe for wonderful Japanese shops ("Kaze" : 11 & 34 rue François Miron and Kimonoya : 11, rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe), hip design shops (namely the Sentou Gallery), paper goods shops ("Calligrane" 6, rue du Pont-Louis-Philippe and "Papier+"). The Rue de Rivoli in itself has a lot of everchanging boutiques (H&M, the Body Shop, etc...). Walk until your meet the Hôtel de Ville (Mayor's House). There is also a museum there.

The Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville (BHV) department store building. Photo found here.

Facing it is the famous BHV department store, which is a paradise for Diyourselfers. Nails, hammers, lamps, you name it, you can find it there! The BHV building in itself is interesting, as it is one of Paris' oldest department stores!

image : the PEI Pyramid photo found here

Then just go down the rue de Rivoli. You will go past the Louvre ! Check it out thoroughly or just have a look at the PEI Pyramid! Under the arcades on the rue de Rivoli, you will find a fantastic English bookshop named Galignagni. Browse a little bit in there.

You will sense that after the Louvre, the neiborhood gets fancier. Stroll in the beautiful Tuileries Garden, which also hosts a museum worth visiting, the "Orangerie/Jeu de Paume" Museum! Or go shopping at the underground "Galeries du Louvre".

The visit stops when you reach the place de la Concorde, but if you wish, you can go see the Seine, even cross and visit the Orsay museum. Or choose to go straight and go up the famous Champs-Elysées!

one rainy night at the Champs-Elysées. photo found here.

Have a nice trip and drop me a line to tell me how it was!
cheers,

-Beautymist