Voyage Toujours

The Marais in Paris is one of its oldest districts.  It takes up part of what is now the 3rd and 4th arrondissements (districts).  It is known as the Jewish quarter and as such Sunday is the first day of the week.  If you know Europe, they still have the old custom of shutting down on Sunday, but for the Jewish community, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is the time of worship and rest (Shabbat).  So, on Sundays in the Marais, everything is open and the rest of Paris comes here to hang out.  Why don’t the Parisians just open their shops on Sunday if there is so much business?  I don’t know, but I’m sure the business people in the Marais don’t mind all the shoppers coming their way.    Shoppers also come here to chow on good deals to be had by the falafel vendors and to eat traditional Jewish dishes or to find kosher items.  For about 7 Euro, you could have a large pita with whatever kind of falafel you want and a drink.  That’s about $10 and, believe it or not, that is a deal around here.  You are not going to be able to sit inside for that price, most of those places I saw were take out joints.  There are a lot of nice small individually owned places but also a lot of the chain stores have moved in the area.  Another cool thing about it is that the streets are shut down to traffic, unless you live there and have a sticker on your car or are going in by bike/moped.  There were also long lines for other sweet shops and one that is supposed to make some of the best eclairs in Paris.  I didn’t savor any of the food, so I’ll have to go back and explore later.  I had to go back home, make some dinner and study French since I did chores most of the day on Saturday.  Here are some street pics of the Marais and the last one that looks fancy is the Places des Vosges a former royal square in the Marais.