Village Saint-Paul: A Little Village of Antiques and Workshops

"Village" is the French word for village, so Village Saint-Paul simply means "Saint-Paul village." A secret spot for a stroll in Le Marais, it is a small village packed with atmospheric, artistic places: antique shops selling old furniture and curios, artisan boutiques with one-of-a-kind handicrafts, workshops and artists' studios, museums and galleries, bookshops and flea markets, and pretty cafés and restaurants.

The buildings that make up the village are apartments where Parisians actually live. Strolling through the quiet courtyards and alleys tucked between them, you'll discover charming places that show a real Paris: not the glamorous, tourist-packed city, but a peaceful, quaint, even humble one.

This was once the garden of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, where the 14th-century French king Charles V lived. The royal residence has vanished into history, but its garden was redeveloped between 1970 and 1979 and turned into housing for Parisians. As shops opened on the ground floors of the apartment buildings, another small village took shape within Le Marais.

The renovation of Village Saint-Paul is expected to run for quite a while, which makes it all the more of a pity. Still, exploring the village under construction may be a way of meeting a different side of Paris. When you've spent some free time here, head for the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, entering not through the main door but through a side door reached via an old alley, the Passage Saint-Paul.