Discover Paris

Focus on the 3rd Arrondissement
 

Along with the 4th arrondissement, this neighbourhood makes up the Marais, the oldest neighbourhood in Paris. Many 18th century mansions that once housed the noblest families of Paris remain, such as the Hotel de Rohan.

This is a multi-ethnic, local and working class environment with many fashion wholesalers, a cluster of art galleries, brasseries, some pleasant regular markets such as the ‘Marche des enfants rouges’ and an interesting mixture of generations.

The maze of narrower southern streets lead to the area known as the Marais, which is more pedestrian, with lovely little parks, boutiques, restaurants, cafes and bars. Important landmarks are the Picasso museum, the National Archives and the Carnavalet museum. This area is relatively trendy due to the popularity with the local artist and gay communities.

Properties

Buildings are lower and are an architectural mixture of ancient, traditional and modern. The area offers a strong community feel, has great local commerce and is reasonably well served by public transport.

Those wanting larger apartments should look further to the north, where prices are lower, but there tends to be currently less soul to the area, although this is changing as its popularity increases.

This arrondissement offers relative calm away from the bustle of the 4th arrondissement.
 

Ten things you should do in the 3rd Arrondissement

• Visit the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, a government supported school devoted to scientific and industrial education and research. There is an inventions museum, Musee des Arts et Metiers, open to the public!
• Stroll along rue des Francs-Bourgeois where you will find the Musee de l’Histoire de France and part of the French National Archives. This spectacular city mansion was built for a prince during the early 18th century.
• Carnavalet Museum allows you to discover Paris’s history through the gallery of the writer, Madame de Sevigne, and holds Robespierre’s final letter. Also, there are beautiful ballrooms and reception rooms to be seen.
• Fall even more in love with the works of Picasso at the Musee Picasso which allows you to follow the development of his works throughout his career from 1894 to 1972. As a bonus, you can see Picasso’s own art collection!
• Find lunch or dinner at the comfortable L’Absinthe Cafe which provides reasonable prices and great French / North African Cuisine. The name itself is in fact not a letdown if you are looking for a splash of absinthe in your drink.
• Dolls, locks, or keys catch your fancy…take a visit to the Musee de la Poupee which is a private doll museum or the Museee de la Serrure which is a private museum of locks and keys.
• A must see, le Marche du Temple, held Paris’s first carnival which is being converted into an auditorium hopefully by 2013. It is on the former grounds of the Knights Templar, which one may have heard of in The DaVinci Code.
• Pop out of metro Temple, a standing symbol of the prison during the French Revolution which held the French royal family including King Louis XVI, Louis XVII, and Marie Antoinette.
• A secret passage way, le passage Vendome, takes you back to neo-classic architecture with Grecian statues leading the way into a hidden nook which contains small boutiques and cafes if you seek access to ancient Paris.
• A taste of Alsace, a region of France near Germany, in Paris which dedicates itself to authenticity. Chez Jenny is considered to a most beautiful brasserie in Paris. Sauerkraut, a traditional German addition, is a tasty selection.
   
  

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