.:LE MARAIS:. parts 1 and 2
'Le Marais' means 'marsh' in French. So, it's no surprise that the Marais is an area that once was a large swamp. Despite it's name, it is one of the most romantic quartiers I have visited in Paris. Highlights include the garden that used to host royal marriages, the Picasso museum, and the Jewish quarter. There are public fountains around, and the walls have a yellow tint so that when the sun shines they glow. My favorite area was definitely the Jewish quarter, with the signs in Hebrew, smell of felafel diffusing through the air, and little boys with yashmaks on running home from school.
.:COVERED PASSAGES:.
Postage stamps, tin soldiers, vintage postcards, flying toys, glass vials, picture frames, music boxes...you name it, le passage des Panoramas has got it. In the middle of the business sector of Paris, near to chic jewelry stores, the Bourse (the wall street of Paris), and the Louvre, there is an alley, covered with glass ceilings perfect for sunny and rainy days alike. I headed in that direction after a morning of lounging on the Seine with my book by myself. I landed myself in some gardens near the passageways and read some more while watching the children play. French children never cease to wow me. I'd take them any day over monuments and quaint cafes. In the passageways, I loved looking at shelf after shelf of treasures. It all seemed precious, objects meant for a time capsule or the space underneath a loose floorboard. I loved running my fingers through the stacks of postcards or tapping my nails on the tinted glass of an old perfume bottle, imagining the story of this little object in front of me. There's something magical in the way objects go through so many pairs of hands.They are objects of wisdom, objects of humanity.
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