The Upper Marais, Rue du Temple and Around

The Marais has two faces. To the south, in the 4th, the Place des Vosges, the cobbled streets and the Saturday crowds. To the north, in the 3rd, a quieter quarter known as the Upper Marais: workshops, galleries, museums set in seventeenth-century houses, and streets where you meet more Parisians than visitors. This is where, on rue du Temple, our two Marais apartments stand.

A street that crosses the quarter

Rue du Temple cuts through the 3rd from south to north. It sets out near the Hôtel de Ville and climbs all the way to the Place de la République, passing the Square du Temple, one of the pleasantest neighbourhood gardens on the Right Bank.

Following it means reading the quarter in slices. At the bottom, old façades and cobbled courtyards; further up, former wholesale shops turned into boutiques and restaurants; at the top, the surroundings of the Arts et Métiers. Our apartments are on this axis: one in the heart of the old Marais, the other further north, under high ceilings.

Houses turned museums

The 3rd is one of the richest arrondissements in museums, and nearly all of them occupy former private mansions.

• · The Musée Picasso, in the Hôtel Salé, holds a collection devoted to the artist, among stone and monumental staircases.
• · The Musée Carnavalet tells the history of Paris, from its origins to the present, across two mansions and their gardens.
• · The Musée des Arts et Métiers, set in a former priory, keeps machines, instruments and inventions; Foucault's pendulum swings inside a church.
• · The Archives nationales, at the Hôtel de Soubise, open their salons and courtyards.

Between visits, push open the carriage doors: many of the neighbourhood's contemporary art galleries lie at the back of courtyards.

Lunch at the market, dinner late

The Marché des Enfants Rouges is the oldest covered market in Paris. At midday you eat elbow to elbow at counters serving cuisines from around the world. Further on, Breizh Café serves buckwheat galettes and crêpes made with carefully chosen produce. For the afternoon, the tea room of Jacques Genin: caramels, chocolates and pastries made to order.

In the evening the quarter changes pace. Candelaria hides a cocktail bar behind its taqueria; go through the door at the back. And for a particular table on a particular evening, the concierge arranges it before you even arrive.

Wander, browse, walk home

The Upper Marais is a quarter of makers. Merci, in a former industrial building, brings together fashion, homeware, books and a café. Around it, designer and perfume boutiques, bookshops, workshops open to the street. You do not come here with a list; you come with an afternoon.

The quarter is made for walking, and the Centre Pompidou, the Île Saint-Louis and the Place des Vosges are easily reached on foot. The metro serves rue du Temple through the Arts et Métiers, Temple and Rambuteau stations.

Living in the Upper Marais

Our two apartments on rue du Temple were chosen for their volumes: three and four bedrooms, up to eight guests, living spaces made for coming together, an equipped kitchen, air conditioning. They suit families, friends travelling together, and those who would rather live the quarter than visit it.

You will find them on the 3rd arrondissement page and in the collection. To choose between the Marais, the 2nd and Saint-Germain, our neighbourhood comparison will help.

The ACT 3 Team