New Tales of the Old Parisian Marais Quarter

We sat with a friend from Russia in a cafe on the corner, near the city hall. She almost “falled” from the chair, watching through the large window of the cafe the phenomenon of another handsome man approaching the neighboring bar with an elegant gait “wagging on the catwalk model”, with a smoothly polished “special creams” face and Schwarzenegger’s figure, in very short (though it was cool) tight-fitting shorts.

Mannerfully kissing his friends - the same handsome as him, the "baby" joined the crowd of young people standing right on the sidewalk by the cafe and in a very secular style talking about their own, probably something sublime, since sweet smiles did not come off their faces and the rolling of eyes passed simply along the "Moliere" on stage. The intruders of the quarter, accustomed to see here always in every cafe more men than women were not surprised, only tourists who wandered here accidentally with curiosity and caution looked at the crowd of handsome androgenic warehouse (now so important when the “bearded singer” won at Eurovision): from whom it was possible to write even now a portrait of John the Baptist, just like Leonardo... When we left the cafe, one of them suddenly rushed on rollers one millimeter away from us, and, having sharply turned around, made a figure "pa" no worse than the world champion in figure skating, stopping his high-raised leg at our noses, my friend almost lost her feelings. "

Come on, we're in Marais, I said, picking her up by the arm to avoid the services of a sophisticated guy. And so, Maré!! If you discard the “blue exotic” of modernity, this quarter is very interesting for its history. Quarter of old mansions, where there are very cute old streets with appropriate names, such as - "Old street of the Temple", "Frankiv-Bourgeois street". And I will show it to you with great pleasure. We will go to places where under the elm was paid debts and taxes. In those streets where once walked the "French Sherlock Holmes" - the famous detective Vidoc, where lived the famous poisoner - Marquise de Branville, where Francois Rabelais wrote his famous novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" and where there is still a part of the old - old, but powerful fortress wall, built in the XIII century by King Philip Augustus, who was called the "spring of the French nation." There is also a beautiful royal square, built by Henry IV - Vosges Square. In Marais, there is still a mansion of Henry’s wife – the famous Queen Margot – a lady very educated, but ecstavagant, with a firm character, probably you read the famous novel by Dumas, but if you remember, she lived in the XVI century! There is a very cozy museum of the history of the city of Paris - the Carnavalet Museum and the Victor Hugo Museum. In Marais everything is imbued with the spirit of the ages! Cozy ancient streets, like old women on a bench, will charm you with their old tales about bishops, Templars, Massons who knew secrets that went back centuries!