LUC’S PARIS

“Over the centuries, the Marais had undergone a number of startling transformations: swamp, fiefdom of the aristocracy, ghetto for the Ashkenazi Jewish community, artisans’ neighbourhood, rat-infested slum, Mecca of the gay scene, home to the bourgeois bohémien set. It had now been gentrified to within an inch of its life: more and more former residential buildings were being taken over by rapacious retail moguls and filled with designer boutiques. But it still retained much of its original charm: the narrow streets, the achingly beautiful baroque townhouses, most of which had since been vacated by their patrician tenants and turned into museums and picture galleries.”

Click here to purchase from Amazon

Why I love it

Every street, every bridge, every monument, every building is steeped in history: both History with a capital H, and my own personal history. Everything everywhere is redolent of some event – major or minor – that left its mark either on history or in my life: from the storming of the Bastille to the time I fell off my moped on the Pont St Michel (right) when I was 14 after I’d had a fight with my mate Mesmer and he kicked in my front wheel; from the Commune de Paris to the smaller-scale yet equally significant social and political struggles I’ve taken part in – the countless demonstrations and marches – over the past forty-odd years.

Pont Saint Michel, 19th century — **The Pont Saint Michel in the 19th century**

And I love the way the city changes: I’ve lived here my whole life, so, like a husband and wife who’ve been married for decades, I immediately notice even the slightest change.

Favourite view

The Ile de la Cité from the Pont des Arts.

The Ile de la Cité seen from the Pont des Arts

Favourite walk

From Place de la République down to the Seine via the Marais, then across the river, through the Latin Quarter and down to the Jardin du Luxembourg. I never take the most direct route; I like to meander, always shunning the main boulevards in favour of little side streets.

**View of the Conciergerie from the pont au Change**

Essential viewing

Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain), Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Hôtel du Nord, Marcel Carné
Les Amants du Pont Neuf, Leos Carax

The Louvre, inner courtyard — **The inner courtyard of the Louvre**

Eating & drinking

Ice cream: Berthillon on the Ile Saint Louis. You need to go to the flagship shop on rue Saint Louis en l’Ile, rather than the dozens of other cafés in the neighbourhood that also serve their stuff: that way you’ll get the dazzling full (and frequently changing) range of sorbet and ice cream flavours.
Meringues: Aux Merveilleux de Fred, rue François Miron.
Poppy seed cake and other Jewish pastries and delicacies: Chez Marianne. There’s one on the corner of Rue des Rosiers and Rue des Hospitalières Saint-Gervaisin the heart of the Marais and one near the opera.
North African pâtisseries in and around Belleville during Ramadan (because my sweet tooth is not sectarian or monocultural).

Let Luc take you on a journey back to the 19th century when Paris was at the heart of the Romantic movement and on a very personal tour of Père Lachaise cemetery.