Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS
The Marais (meaning 'marsh' or 'swamp' in French) was exactly what its
name implies right up until the 13th century, when it was converted to farm-
land. In the early 17th century Henri IV built place Royale (today's place des
Vosges), turning the area into Paris' most fashionable residential address.
When the aristocracy moved out of Paris to Versailles and Faubourg St-Ger-
main, the Marais and its townhouses passed into the hands of ordinary
Parisians. The 110-hectare area was given a major facelift in the late 1960s
and early '70s, and today it is one of the city's most coveted addresses.
ART MUSEUM
MUSÉE PICASSO
€11; 11.30am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 9pm 3rd Sat of month; St-Paul or Chemin Vert)
One of Paris' most beloved art collections reopened its doors after a massive renovation and
much controversy in late 2014. Housed in the stunning, mid-17th-century Hôtel Salé, the
Musée Picasso woos art lovers with 5000 drawings, engravings, paintings, ceramic works
and sculptures by the
grand maître
(great master) Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). The ex-
traordinary collection was donated to the French government by the artist's heirs in lieu of
paying inheritance tax.
SQUARE
PLACE DES VOSGES
Inaugurated in 1612 as place Royale and thus Paris' oldest square, place des Vosges is a
strikingly elegant ensemble of 36 symmetrical houses with ground-floor arcades, steep slate
roofs and large dormer windows arranged around a leafy square with four symmetrical
fountains and an 1829 copy of a mounted statue of Louis XIII. The square received its
present name in 1800 to honour the Vosges
département
(administrative division) for being
the first in France to pay its taxes.
In Paris, only the earliest houses were built of brick; to save time, the rest were given tim-
ber frames and faced with plaster, later painted to resemble brick.
HOUSE MUSEUM
MAISON DE VICTOR HUGO
