Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [56]
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MUSEUM CLOSING TIMES
The vast majority of museums in Paris close on Mondays though more than a dozen, including the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Picasso and the Musée National du Moyen Age, are closed on Tuesdays instead. It is also important to remember that all museums and monuments in Paris shut their doors or gates between 30 minutes and an hour before their actual closing times, which are the ones we list in this chapter. Therefore if we say a museum or monument closes at 6pm, for example, don’t count on getting in much later than 5pm.
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BOURSE DE COMMERCE Map
01 55 65 55 65; 2 rue de Viarmes, 1er; admission free; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri; Les Halles
At one time the city’s grain market, the circular Trade Exchange was capped with a copper dome in 1811. The murals running along internal walls below the galleries were painted in 1889 and restored in 1998. They represent French trade and industry through the ages.
TOUR JEAN SANS PEUR Map
01 40 26 20 28; www.tourjeansanspeur.com in French; 20 rue Étienne Marcel, 2e; adult/student & 7-18yr €5/3; 1.30-6pm Wed-Sun Apr-Oct, 1.30-6pm Wed, Sat & Sun Nov-Mar; Étienne Marcel
The Gothic, 29m-high Tower of John the Fearless was built by the Duke of Bourgogne as part of a splendid mansion in the early 15th century, so he could take refuge from his enemies at the top. It is one of the very few examples of feudal military architecture extant in Paris. Visitors can ascend the 140 steps of the spiral staircase to the turret on top. A guided tour at 3pm costs €8.
TOUR ST-JACQUES Map
square de la Tour St-Jacques, 4e; Châtelet
The Flamboyant Gothic, 52m-high St James Tower just north of place du Châtelet is all that remains of the Église St-Jacques la Boucherie, which was built by the powerful butchers guild in 1523 as a starting point for pilgrims setting out for the shrine of St James at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The church was demolished by the revolutionary Directory in 1797, but the bell tower was spared so it could be used to drop globules of molten lead in the manufacture of shot.
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MARAIS & BASTILLE
Drinking; Eating; Shopping; Sleeping
The Marais, the area of the Right Bank north of Île St-Louis, was exactly what its name in French implies – ‘marsh’ or ‘swamp’ – until the 13th century, when it was converted to farmland. In the early 17th century, Henri IV built the place Royale (today’s place des Vosges), turning the area into Paris’ most fashionable residential district and attracting wealthy aristocrats who then erected their own luxurious private mansions.
When the aristocracy moved out of Paris to Versailles and Faubourg St-Germain during the late 17th and the 18th centuries, the Marais and its town houses passed into the hands of ordinary Parisians. The 110-hectare area was given a major face-lift in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Though the Marais has become a coveted trendy address in recent years, it remains home to a long-established Jewish community. The historic Jewish quarter – the so-called Pletzl – starts in rue des Rosiers, then continues along rue Ste-Croix de la Bretonnerie to rue du Temple, where expensive boutiques sit side-by-side with Jewish bookshops and stores selling religious goods and cacher (kosher) grocery shops, butchers, restaurants and takeaway falafel joints. Don’t miss the Art Nouveau synagogue (Map; 10 rue Pavée, 4e) designed in 1913 by Hector Guimard, who was also responsible for the city’s famous metro entrances (boxed text). You’ll also find a lot of gay and lesbian bars and restaurants in this area as well.
After years as a run-down immigrant neighbourhood notorious for its high crime rate, the Bastille area has undergone a fair degree of gentrification, which started with the advent