Explore Paris
- The islands
- The Champs-Élysées and around
- The Louvre
- The Opéra district
- Beaubourg and around
- The Marais
- Bastille
- The 12e arrondissement
- Quartier Latin
- St-Germain
- The Eiffel Tower quarter
- Southern Paris
- The Beaux Quartiers
- Montmartre and around
- La Villette and around
- The eastern districts
- Around Paris
A fine place to start exploring the Marais is the eighteenth-century magnificence of the Palais Soubise, which houses the Archives Nationales de France and the Musée de l’Histoire de France. The palace’s fabulous rococo interiors are the setting for changing exhibitions drawn from the archives, as well as a permanent collection of documents including Joan of Arc’s trial proceedings, with a doodled impression of her in the margin, and a Revolutionary calendar where “J” stands for Jean-Jacques Rousseau and “L” for Labourer. The palace’s interior gardens make for a pleasant stroll.
