"Trendy, Artistic, Shabby-Chic"
The 3rd arrondissment, also referred to as the Upper Marais, has experienced some of the most significant price increases of any Paris arrondissement in recent years because of its hip reputation and rarety of offers. You’ll find a greater density of trendy boutiques and cafés here than perhaps in any other arrondissement. It is the mecca for fashion victims, but also a neighborhood boasting many attractions, including the Square du Temple, the Musée PIcasso, the Musée Carnavalet, Musée des Arts et Métiers, and lesser-known hide-aways such as the Square George Cain, the gardens of the Archives Nationales, and the Jardin Anne Frank.
These past few years, all sorts of super-stylish hangouts have popped up. There’s Enfants du Marché, an excellent wine bar-cum-restaurant tucked inside the Marché des Enfants Rouges; contemporary art galleries like Suzanne Tarasieve, Emmanuel Perrotin and Thaddaeus Ropac; countless vintage shops and concept stores with an ethical bent (bonjour Merci), and cocktail bars such as Bisou, where the staff will make you basically anything you fancy. Soon to come : a Lebanese food market the brainchild of renowned chef and activist Kamal Mouzawak – founder of NGO Make Food Not War – so you can expect great things. Chinese-food lovers will appreciate the enclave next the Arts et Métiers metro stop, offering a score of Chinese restaurants and markets.
Given the property prices in the 3rd, all of the above would need to be of particular importance to you, because there are also some drawbacks. The district is dense, with very little park space; the streets are narrow and often overrun with people, an estimated third of whom are likely to be tourists. The most common apartment buildings are from the pre-Haussmann periods, featuring plastered facades and wooden beams. The living spaces tend to be cramped. There are exceptions of course, notably on the Boulevard Beaumarché.
See photo album for the 3rd arrondissement.
See where the 3rd arrondissement is located in Paris, and discover other arrondissements.
