Le Marais

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Location

Paris
France
48° 51' 33.3324" N, 2° 21' 34.8048" E
FR
General info: 

If you wish to see how the rich people of Paris lived in the past (and how some of them still do), visit Les Marais area. Here are dozens of castles, mansions, and churches built by the French aristocracy. Les Marais is a magnificent mixture of various architectural styles from different times that all have one thing in common – luxury. The oldest building in the area dates from the 13th century.

Nowadays, this historic district is home to dozens of art galleries and museums, but even today some of the Paris’ bourgeous families reside here as they did for centuries. Other aristocratic families have moved, leaving behind wonderful palaces. Luckily, those buildings didn’t get ruined, but are reconstructed and now serve as upscale hotels. Some of those are Hôtel de Sens, Hôtel de Sully, and Hôtel d'Albret.

Getting there: 

Le Marais area is located on the right bank of the River Seine and stretches over 3rd and 4th arrondissement.

Costs: 

You can expect the prices to be slightly higher than in other parts of the city.

Interesting places nearby

Meribel (1,450m), a firm British favourite, is also known as ‘Little England upon the Alps’.

Right on the Swiss border and serving six traditional villages in the locality, this is a year-round multi-sports resort. There is a snowpark for boarders and night-skiing is possible several evenings per week.

Located four kilometres (two-and-a-half miles) from the village of Mijanès, on the sides of Canrusc mountain between 1500 and 2000 meters high, the winter ski resort of Mijanès - Donezan is a real alternative to the next big resorts.

Great skiing offered by the resort's 50 modern lifts and more than 100 km of slopes, perfectly prepared from December to April, thanks to an advanced snow-making system.

Overlooking the medieval town of Gruyères, the famous mountain named le Moléson is an imposing peak reaching up to 2002m above sea-level.

Under-developed ski area little known outsuide France and close to the Italian border ( 22km/16 miles away over a pass open in Summer). Limited facilities but friendly, relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere and very reasonable prices.