Hotel du Marais
Rue Commines, Paris

	Category ** Price guide 66-121 (euro/room) Number of rooms 39. Virtual Gallery

You'll find this hotel tucked away on a small street in the heart of Les Marais. Located right between two metro stops, it provides the budget traveller with a warm and friendly base from which to explore all that Paris has to offer. Bedrooms are comfortably arranged and are all equipped with en-suite bathrooms, television and phone line. Continental breakfast is either served downstairs or to your room (on request) every morning.

A short walk from rue Commines will take you either to Calvaire Finnes or St-Sébastien Froissart. Both metro stops are on line 8, and a quick change to line 1 at Bastille will put you on track for The Louvre, Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysées. The 96 bus route takes you across L'lle de la Cité, past Notre Dame, over to the left bank and up to Montparnasse. For those seeking stunning views of Paris, taking the lift to the top of the Montparnasse Tower will ensure the only viewpoint higher than the Eiffel tower.

Although Les Marais is by no means far from the centre of Paris (just 5 stops on the metro to Notre-Dame and the Louvre), the area gives you a glimpse of Parisian life at a slower pace. Tourist-packed streets and horn blasts give way to small boutiques, relaxed cafes and tiny art shops. The 3rd and 4th arrondissements make up Les Marais which stretches as far North as the Place de la République, and as far South as Notre Dame. Home to Place de Vosges - the oldest square in Paris, Les Marais also houses the remnants of the old Jewish quarter. Rue des Rosiers is studded with bakeries and patisseries specialising in Jewish confectionary. When evening creeps in, head to Place de la Bastille where tourists and locals fill up the bars. Also the heart of the gay district, Les Marais offers something for everyone.

For food lovers, the gastronomic journey starts on rue Commines at L'Epicuriens du Marais, a stylish restaurant offering classic French cuisine and intimate dinning without the tourist price tag. A little off the beaten track, you'd be lucky to find L'Epicuriens on your first trip to Paris, but it's worth discovering and revisiting.

Next on the list is Marriage Frère - the oldest teashop in Paris. Here, the art of blending, serving and most importantly tasting has stemmed from a family passion in the tea trade going back some 400 years. Sit back and relax in wicker chairs while waiters serve up pots of steaming tea from a menu boasting some 300 flavours.

Finally, the islands of the Seine beckon. Take the 96 bus to Chatelet and hop onto L'lle de la Cité past Notre-Dame and over the bridge across to L'lle de St Louis to sample what is reputedly the best ice-cream in Paris: Berthillon. The surrounding cafes and restaurants offer the delights of Berthillon on almost every menu, but for the real McCoy wonder over to rue St Louis en L'lle. There may be a queue for a seat inside and there'll almost certainly be a queue for a take-away cone, but the "glace au chocolat" is worth the wait. Amble up the rest of the street and you'll find it packed with small boutiques, and specialist food shops. If you find it all too tempting, you're safe in the knowledge that the 96 bus will return you and your stomach quite literally to the front door of the hotel, for a well earned rest.

Address book:

Hotel du Marais 2 bis, rue Commines, Paris 3
Marriage Frere 30 & 35 rue de Bourg-Tibourg, Le Marais, Paris 4
L'Epicuriens du Marais 19 rue Commines, Paris 3
Berthillon 31, rue Saint-Louis en L'lle, Paris 4

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