My friend Louise, slightly envious that a Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition had opened in Florence, decided to surprise me since she only arrives at the end of October: she bought me a plane ticket, and we embarked on a 24-hour museum tour in Paris’ Marais district, because, let’s face it, doing it alone would have been dull.
The Marais is different from the bustling grand boulevards – quieter, more intimate, as if a little separate world exists in the heart of the city. Art, history, style, and mystery weave through every street. Here, museums don’t hide behind flashy facades; they nestle within 17th-century private mansions, each more lavish than the last. Places where every stone seems to whisper its own story.
Musée Carnavalet – the Sanctuary of the City’s History
Nestled in the Ligneris and Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau mansions, every room tells the tale of a different era – from Roman Lutetia to the modern metropolis. Walking among paintings, sculptures, period interiors, and reconstructed shops, I felt as if the spirits of Madame de Sévigné or Marcel Proust were accompanying me. The current temporary exhibition, Les Gens de Paris (1926–1936), was especially close to my heart – after all, my grandmother was also born in 1926.
Musée Picasso – the House of Genius In the aristocratic rooms of Hôtel Salé, more than five hundred Picasso works await. After seeing him in Antibes, returning here feels almost personal: each visit reveals something new. The museum showcases not only his paintings and sculptures but also the incredible energy that defined his life. Every room captures a moment of genius – bold, free, and always evolving.
Centre Pompidou – an Architectural Revolution When it opened in 1977, the Pompidou Center redefined the idea of a “museum” with Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers’ colorful pipes, visible structures, and glass walkways. It houses one of Europe’s largest modern and contemporary art collections – Picasso, Kandinsky, Dalí, Matisse, Duchamp, and many more. If you visit, be sure to take the famous transparent escalator: each floor reveals more of Paris, and at the top, the Eiffel Tower seems within arm’s reach.
However, since the center closed in September 2025 for a five-year renovation, we instead headed to my favorite bistro, Le Bistrot de l’Oulette. This place, for me, is the essence of the Marais: warm, familial atmosphere, seasonal dishes, impeccable service. And the legendary duck confit… perfectly tender and crisp in all the right places. A glass of Bordeaux, and everything in the world feels right.
Maison de Victor Hugo – the Writer’s Rooms In one of the most beautiful houses on Place des Vosges, Hugo lived for 16 years. The apartment is like a time machine: original furniture, manuscripts, drawings, personal objects. The walls seem to still hold the words of Les Misérables. A place where the spirit of French literature is literally in the air.
We ended the day at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, a museum whose unique atmosphere and carefully curated rooms reminded me of Florence’s La Specola. The temporary exhibition, The Unicorn, the Star, and the Moon, transforms part of the museum into a forested house where real and mythical creatures play together with our imagination. Over 70 works, half of them made specifically for this occasion, ensured that by the end of the day, we were fully immersed in the Marais’ magical atmosphere.
That’s how our 24 hours in the Marais unfolded. A district where past and present coexist in harmony; where every street corner is a small wonder, and where art doesn’t just live within museum walls but continues to breathe in the streets themselves.