March 13, 2008

Rue des Francs-Bourgeois (1)


On your way from Place de Vosges to e.g. Centre Pompidou, you could take rue des Francs-Bourgeois, which is the central and a very ancient street in the “le Marais “ area. There is a lot to see also in the crossing and neighbouring streets, but today – and tomorrow – we will just follow this one.

The name of the street, which means “exempt citizens”, was given during the Revolution and because of the existence of a mansion in the street where in the 15th century some poor people who didn’t have to pay taxes to the city were given a place to live.

Along the street you will find a large number of mansions (“hôtels particuliers”), most of them several hundred years old. Many of them are closed to public – today mostly occupied by different administrations - and you can only with a bit of luck see what is behind the gates and the facades. One of the nicer mansions and open to public is Hôtel Carnavalet (see below), built in 1548, which used to be the home of Madame Sévigné (her birthplace was Place des Vosges, as I mentioned yesterday). It’s today the Museum of the History of Paris. It’s certainly worth a visit (free of charge), is magnificently decorated (to a great part with interiors from different epochs and often coming from other palaces) and shows a lot of interesting documentation. The street is full of boutiques – often old bakeries or butchers which, fortunately, in some cases have kept the old ensigns and part of the decoration. Here almost everything is open even on Sundays, so it’s a nice shopping street. ... and if you are hungry or thirsty, you will easily find a place. I always advise you to look to the right and the left, into the small side streets, alleys and inner yards (when they are open); this is what adds to the charm of many of these old streets. As an example, if you look on the lower left corner of the below patchwork, you can see an alley, called “Impasse des Arbalétriers” (arbalète = cross-bow) where in 1407 the brother of King Charles VI was killed, which led to about 15 years of civil war, or at least brutal struggle, between the “Armagnacs” and the “Burgundians”.
As usual, you can find these pictures "full size" on my photo blog.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

The hotel looks grand with all the ambiance.
And open on Sunday is a big treat !

Spring has indeed come there... not much of cold sunless pictures.

Thanks again for sharing. :-)

Shammickite said...

Peter.... I see you already have this award.... I was recently nominated for the "Big E for Excellent" blog award... and I'm supposed to nominate 10 bloggers to share it with me... you're on my list! And then the winners share with 10 more bloggers, and so on and so forth, until we all get one, whether we are Exellent or not!

alice said...

Ah...les boutiques de la rue des Francs-Bourgeois...Ouvertes le dimanche qui plus est! Le nez collé aux vitrines, on en oublierait presque d'admirer l'architecture.
(sans vouloir te contredire, cher Peter, la rue des arbalétriers n'aurait-elle pas un rapport avec les arbalètes -crossbows?)

Peter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Très beau quartier et pas très loin du Centre culturel suédois à Paris.

alice said...

Loin de moi une telle idée, c'était juste une suggestion, l'albâtre m'évoquant quelque chose de plus... oriental que le Marais!

alice said...

Deslilas connait les petites rues adjacentes! Et dans la cour du Centre culturel suédois, un petit restau/cantine tenue par de charmantes...Suédoises.

hpy said...

Des restaurants ouverts le dimanche, tard le soir etc, ce qui est rarement le cas en province, chose dont j'échangeais quelque mots avec mon conférencier de l'autre jour.

Noushy Syah said...

The shops and boutiques quite tempting! Especially open on Sunday, wow!

The alley where King Charles VI was killed pretty quiet, isn't it? BTW, the alley is at the back of the shops rite?

lyliane six said...

Je cours à la clinique et je reviens ce soir.

Anonymous said...

Bon ben chez nous, il y a effectivement peu de restaurants ouverts en ville le dimanche. Mais j'ai découvert quand même que dans mon quartier, il y a deux petits restaurants ouverts le dimanche et ils ne sont pas loin de chez moi. Maintenant que ma vie sociale est complètement partie en déliquescence, l'information est de taille et à prendre au sérieux... Ah dure la vie parfois. Autrement, merci pour la belle petite chanson de ce matin cher peter et plein de bises pour l'après-midi et la soirée.

Mona said...

I love window shopping on your blog! :)

Those are fascinating pictures!

sonia a. mascaro said...

What a beautiful places here on your blog, Peter! I feel much pleasure seeing your photos!

Ming the Merciless said...

I believe I have walked this street before. The stores look somewhat familiar but then again, a lot of stores in Paris look like the ones in your photos.

When I was in Le Marais, I actually look at some apartment rental listings at the real estate companies in the area. Wish I could afford a small apartment there for the summer or a year.

Nikon said...

What beautiful photos, Peter! I love the background & border color scheme, too - it really is a good one to make the photos jump out.
Thanks for your visit ( & thanks to Isabella :-)

claude said...

Encore une belle promenade dans une belle rue de la Capitale. Comme tu en as de la chance.
Je vais essayer d'aller à paris au mois d'Avril. J'ai une visite à faire, pas très marrante, mais je dois la faire, et je vais essayer également de rencontre ma petite blogueuse Portugaise préférée Raindrop/Cris. Elle a été une des toutes premières lectrice de mon blog en tombant dessus par hasard.

Vagabondage said...

Hello Peter....

(Tu remarques, mon anglais progresse....)

C'est vrai trop drôle, je me souviens d'un magasin de vêtements féminins dans une ancienne boucherie, un "bon" carrelage rouge pour "soie et dentelle"...

C'était mon chemin... du Père Lachaise au centre.. Pour échapper à la sempiternelle Bastille et rue de Rivoli, autre route buissonnière, j'aime bien regarder les magasins et j'aime bien quand ils sont ouverts, même si je n'entre pas, triste une ville parfois le dimanche..

Je suis allée à Paris aujourd'hui, mais un rapide voyage. Je pars en Italie le 29 Mars.. A mon retour, je ferai signe.... promis..

Bonne soirée à toi.

lyliane six said...

Encore une belle promenade heureusement ça me fait sortir un peu des 4 murs d'une chambre de clinique.

Peter said...

cuckoo:
Spring, but some grey skies and a bit of rain!

ex-shammickite:
Yes, I had it, but it's an honor to get a second time - and from you!

alice:
Merci d'avoir trouvé l'erruer stpide. 'ai corrigé!

Peter said...

deslilas:
En effet! Je suis passé (mais pas de photos).

alice (encore):
Le jour quand j'y étais, peu (pas) de visiteurs! Il faut retourne un jour de soleil!

hpy:
Tu as bien raison!

Cergie said...

Bonjour camarade Peter,

Je me démande si "citizen" correspond bien à "bourgeois" Diff de faire correspondre exactly les deux languages, english et français, pour les nuances (fleuve is not exactly river, for example)
Bourgeois, c'est bien habitants de la ville au moyen-âge, mais je lis que l'appellation date de la Révolution, alors cela introduit la notion de classe : middle-class

Tu te souviens que j'ai posté une picture de cette longue rue sous la pluie. Elle montrait comme elle est animée, vivante. Pour ma part j'y étais passée en venant de l'Hôtel de Ville en allant à Beaubourg. Donc cette rue mène à bien des endroits ds ce quartier (que personnellement j'aime beaucoup)

Peter said...

noushy:
Actually, ti was the king's brother who got killed. There is a shop also in the alley.

lyliane:
Cours!

delphinium:
J'ai bien voulu chanter: pour le plaisir? ... pas pour le voisins!

Peter said...

mona:
Window shopping on my blog..., real shopping?

sonia:
Thanks!

ming:
Sounds intersting! Could you imagine staying a year in Paris, even work wise?

Peter said...

nikon:
Yes, thanks Isabella; we found each others' blogs!

claude:
J'espère alors qu'on peut se voir!

mathilde:
C'est bien! Tu me donnes signe quand ça t'arranges!

Peter said...

lyliane:
Pas facile pour toi en ce moment!

cergie:
Je crois aussi que "bourgeois" voulait dire "citizen" avant la révolution, probablement pas après, mais la maison en question portait sans doute ce nom et les révolutionnaires semblent l'avoir accepté.

Jeanie said...

You are so right about looking to the right and left! So many unexpected treats (probably more, when you know what you're looking for!)

I'm glad you give this high marks -- it was one of my favorites, partly for all the information about Paris history that was inside. And beautifully done. And you're right -- great neighborhood (but wish I realized the Sunday part!!!)

liveaboardmaldives said...

What a great city. There are different places to see for you to appreciate.

incatrailperu said...

Great buildings you have. Tourists who love the arts will enjoy visiting museums.

ladiesknitwear said...

The buildings are grand and maintained very well. The place is good for people who are fascinated with beautiful buildings.

incatrailtouroperator said...

The exterior of each shops are nice to look at. It charms us to go inside with the designs of each store.

Hotel Lima Peru said...

The buildings depict the artistic taste of the French. Simple yet you see the distinctiveness of the buildings.

Miraflores Hotels said...

The intricate details on the wall inside the museum really tells you the work of a skillful artist.

www.muebles-en-jaen.com said...

So, I don't actually suppose this may have success.