Village St Paul

Many centuries ago, a small hamlet sat on this spot when the area was still mostly marshland (marais means “swamp”). While the neighborhood has transformed many times since, a small reminder of this village lives on, hidden behind an ordinary row of buildings on rue St-Paul. Pass through the entryway and you’ll come into a kind of large interior courtyard that dates from the 14th century, when it was part of the gardens of Charles V’s royal residence. At one point the houses and buildings built over and around the gardens were slated for demolition; a neighborhood committee saved them, and in the 1970s the village was restored and turned into a sort of antiques center, with stores and art galleries (see www.levillagesaintpaul.com and “Shopping”). The village hosts seasonal déballages, or outdoor arts and antiques fairs. Today the commercial emphasis has shifted from antiquities to design.

Exit the village on rue des Jardins St-Paul. On one side of this street is a playground that runs along a huge stone wall, the: