Our one-week Paris séjour found us residing in one of the historic Covered Passages. We rented a small, peaceful, one-bedroom apartment in the colorful Montorgueil neighborhood in the 2nd arrondissement. The lovely apartment was perfectly situated for our tastes, and we especially enjoyed having our choice of four or five nearby boulangeries, where each morning we collected our breakfast pastries from a different one to try to determine our favorite rendition of the pain aux raisins.
Passage du Bourg l’Abbé
Our home-away-from-home was situated in a traditional shopping arcade built in 1828 called Passage du Bourg l’Abbé. These lovely glass-roofed passages or galleries were built around this period to provide dry, illuminated passageways protecting shoppers from the unsavory elements of early 19th-century Paris. They were a precursor to the modern shopping malls of today, and were replaced by department stores, starting with Le Bon Marché, another Paris original.
Of course, our temporary residence inspired us to meander through the lively and chic 2nd & 9th arrondissements to explore some of the other historical covered passages situated between Les Grands Boulevards and Le Louvre.
Passage du Grand Cerf
Passage des Panoramas
Passage Jouffroy
Passage Jouffroy
Passage Jouffroy
Passage Verdeau
Galerie Vivienne
Galerie Vivienne
Passage Choiseul
Passage Choiseul
Galerie Vero-Dodat
Galerie Vero-Dodat
Galerie Colbert
Galerie Colbert
Thanks for a delightful return to the Passages de Paris. My family first discovered them in 1999 when we spent Christmas in Paris while our daughter was studying at the University there. She was taking architectural classes, and led us one day on a walking tour of many of them. For those who love all things French I highly recommend reading the mystery novels of Cara Black as each one takes place in a different arrondissement and much of the action takes place in these passages! Thanks for the trip!
Posted by: Gretchen Kvikstad | Friday, 02 September 2011 at 08:37 AM