On a late summer afternoon, children gathered on the Terrain de Sport des Jardins Saint-Paul, a paved area in Paris’s Le Marais district, are kicking balls against the westerly wall as others shoot hoops in the basketball court. Unlike most walls across France used for target practice, however, this one is nearly 1,000 years old.
“It’s typical of Le Marais,” says Alexandre Gourevitch, who runs Discover Walks, a walking tour business, of the treatment meted out by schoolchildren to the section of city fortification built by King Philippe Auguste in the 12th century.
“This isn’t Paris’s posh western district, where expats are told to move, with the parks, the big homes, the safe streets, and building managers in every building,” says Gourevitch. “Here, the streets are narrow, winding and medieval, and are full of surprises: the area is authentically parisien.”
Spanning sections of the French capital’s 3rd and 4th arrondissements, Le Marais blends history with the lively buzz of modern life, including a good stock of independent boutiques, restaurants and cultural spaces.
It encompasses many landmark buildings. On its south-west border is the Hôtel de Ville, whose southern edge looks over the river Seine to Notre-Dame cathedral. On its northern edge is Place de la République — centred on the statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic. Marking its eastern boundary is Place de la Bastille whose prison storming and destruction, a key moment in the French revolution, is commemorated in a national holiday (July 14).
The mix of history and street life makes Le Marais particularly appealing to those from abroad in search of a real Paris experience.
Bijan Khashabian, who lives in Berlin, bought a share of an apartment in the area, along with shares in homes in Cannes, Rome and Barcelona, through a European shared-ownership operator called August.
“Le Marais has a more personal sense of neighbourhood than the more touristy central Paris areas,” he says. “It’s the sort of area where you have to order in French, and there aren’t too many Airbnb rentals in your block.”
Ben Humphrey discovered the area in 2007: it was cheaper than other central Paris locations, easy to meet people and the history appealed, he says, “from the Bastille district — a good meeting point for revolutionaries and protesters — to spots like the Place des Vosges where Victor Hugo used to hang out.”
Now the owner of The Pub, a local bar, he says the nightlife of Le Marais is more vibrant and inclusive than that of the city’s more expensive residential areas, such as the so-called golden triangle — the 8th arrondissement area bounded by the avenues Montaigne, George V and Champs-Élysées. This is partly a function of the neighbourhoods’ contrasting architecture and design.
“There, on those grand Haussmann boulevards, you have big rows of tables, served by waiters; people sit there à deux talking to each other,” he says. “But here in Le Marais you’ll have 30 people crammed into a room with low-beamed ceilings, the culture is much more ‘stand up at the bar and chat to people’. And it’s cheaper: you can still get a €4 or €5 pinte, and the anglophone community is very fond of a €4 or €5 pinte”.
Homes are cheaper than in Paris’s most prestigious residential neighbourhoods. The average apartment price in the 3rd and 4th arrondissement is €12,509 and €13,776 per square metre, according to Meilleurs Agents, a French property portal. The average is €15,964 in the 6th and €14,418 in the 7th.
This year, rising mortgage rates have resulted in falling sales across France. Nationwide, home sales fell 8.1 per cent in February compared with a year earlier, according to the latest data from France’s association of notaires. Average asking prices in Paris fell 6 per cent in the year to September, according to Meilleurs Agents.
In contrast with the fall-off in domestic sales, demand from international buyers in Paris remains strong, according to Yves Romestan, chief executive of YRSA Progedim, an estate agency that covers Paris. Over the past six months, he estimates, between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of his buyers have been from abroad — a total of around 100 sales — compared with 20 per cent before the pandemic.
Boris Hamzeian is an architectural historian at the Centre Pompidou, the celebrated modern art museum on the western edge of Le Marais. He distinguishes the area among Paris’s central residential districts by its architectural history, and vibrant street and nightlife — which have made it a hotspot for the city’s LGBT+ community — as well as the area’s large number of art galleries and museums.
“Besides its architectural vision, the building was designed to restore a district that was crime-ridden, dirty and neglected. In that respect, it succeeded,” he says, pointing to the steady stream of vernissage (previews) and finissage (closing parties) that, today, feature in the area’s private galleries.
Each morning, making full use of Paris’s cycle lanes — expanded by mayor Anne Hidalgo in recent years — Hamzeian cycles north from his home in the Latin Quarter, past Notre-Dame, alongside the Hôtel de Ville and up into the dense streets surrounding the Pompidou.
“As soon as I cross the river and enter the neighbourhood, I feel its distinctive atmosphere,” he says.
This summer, after the killing of Nahel Merzouk, a French 17-year-old of Moroccan and Algerian descent, by police in Paris, violent riots erupted in Paris and cities across France.
Ben Humphrey says the protests left little mark on a city used to public demonstrations. “The looting tended to happen towards the Champs-Élysées. And [the riots] didn’t affect my view on Paris at all. I don’t know anyone who feels less safe [as a result of the protests],” he says.
Falling demand for Paris homes this year, meanwhile, is helping buyers drive harder bargains in Le Marais. In summer 2022, when Athénaïs Dunod, head of acquisitions for shared-ownership operator August, started looking for the apartment of which Khashabian is now co-owner, she found nothing of interest.
“Prices were high and there was zero room for negotiation,” she says. But, as interest rates climbed, sellers became more open to offers and in January, she purchased the two-bedroom apartment at a 10 per cent discount on its advertised price.
She is looking to buy several more properties in the coming months.
“A year ago, the asking price would have been higher and there would have been no discount,” she says. “We’re starting to see a lot more deals coming up this year.”
At a glance
- The average list price for a Paris apartment is €9,944 per sq m, according to Meilleurs Agents.
- From République metro station it is 14 minutes to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and 20 minutes to La Défense business district.
- The Eurostar connects Paris with London in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
On the market
Apartment, 3rd arrondissement, €1.05mn
A 76 sq m, two-bedroom apartment on the third floor of a period building near Rue de Bretagne. The property has period features including Versailles-style parquet flooring, a study and tall windows. For sale with Knight Frank.
Apartment, 3rd arrondissement, €1.895mn
A three-bedroom apartment in Haut-Marais with 110 sq m of living space, on the second floor of a building with a lift. The renovated property has wood floors and custom-built storage. Available through Barnes International Realt.
Apartment, 4th arrondissement,€2.184mn
A 138 sq m apartment in the Saint-Paul quarter with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a mezzanine library and a study. It has 3.8m-high ceilings, overlooks a courtyard garden and is on the market with Christie’s International Real Estate.
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On a late summer afternoon in Paris’s Le Marais district, children gather on the Terrain de Sport des Jardins Saint-Paul to enjoy sports. As they kick balls against a nearly 1,000-year-old wall built by King Philippe Auguste and shoot hoops on the basketball court, the lively atmosphere and historic setting create a unique experience.
Alexandre Gourevitch, the owner of Discover Walks, a walking tour business, explains that Le Marais offers an authentic Parisian experience. Unlike the posh western district with its parks, big homes, and safe streets, Le Marais is characterized by narrow, winding, medieval streets full of surprises.
The district, spanning parts of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements
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