Ile Saint Louis, Paris’ small town
May 17, 2008
Ile Saint Louis is an oasis of quiet charm in the center of bustling Paris.
The Ile Saint Louis, a small island in the middle of the Seine, at the epicenter of Paris, holds no must-see world-famous attractions. It has no major monuments to speak of, and its one church, Saint-Louis-en-l’ile, which, while a fine example of 18th C. church architecture, is not among the most spectacular in Paris. The most well-known attraction on the Ile Saint Louis is an ice cream shop, Berthillon, which, while excellent, to some might not appear to be reason enough for a detour to the Ile Saint Louis. But any visitor to Paris soon realizes as soon as he or she sets foot on the Ile Saint Louis, that the point is not what you can see there, but how it feels to be there.
Right in the physical center of Paris, the Ile Saint Louis providesa calm in the eye of the storm, with quais made for strolling with a cone of passion-fruit Berthillon ice cream, cafes under the trees with a spectacular rear view of Notre Dame’s flying buttresses, and shop after shop of irresistibly useless items (Marionettes! Impossibly chic clothes! Products made from honey! Exorbitant oil landscapes!) to reward hours of leisurely window-shopping. Many tourists make a mistake in bypassing the Ile Saint Louis, skirting it to head for the more impressive Place Des Vosges and the now-trendy streets of the surrounding Marais area. But the Marais, while also old, has become very gentrified, the Soho of Paris, while the Ile Saint Louis remains pleasantly behind the times. No wonder one feels comfortable slowing down there, which is exactly what the harried tourist needs. The old-fashioned look of the Ile Saint Louis, the absence of much auto traffic or noise and the small scale of everything invite visitors to step back to an older time and a slower pace.
The irony is that when Ile Saint Louis was first developed in the 1700’s, it became at the time the most modern area of Paris. But the tables turned when the more fashionable crowd moved west. This was a blessing in disguise for Ile Saint Louis and centuries’ worth of visitors, as the little island’s passing out of vogue meant years of benign neglect during which almost nothing changed. So the narrow streets and facades, some of them mere slivers, the charmingly off-kilter buildings, the cobblestones, the oddly-sized doors and hodgepodge of small shopfronts are still much as they were, while little of “mainland” Paris has escaped modernization so well.
Of course no one knows the secret charms of the Ile Saint Louis better than the lucky few fortunate enough to live there. Residents of Ile Saint Louis give up the convenience of having a metro or bus stop right on the corner, but they have the real luxury of living in a small-town atmosphere in the center of Paris, knowing their butchers, bakers and neighbors by name. Real estate on the Ile Saint Louis is among the most expensive in Paris, and even so, because of the small size of the Ile Saint Louis, apartments are hard to come by. Since these apartments are in buildings and hotels particuliers(town homes) from the 18th century, many have the large French windows, exposed beams, intricate moldings and fireplaces, touches that infuse homes on the Ile Saint Louis with charm.
Visitors can pretend to be an Ile Saint-Louis denizen for a week or weekend, however, if they opt for a Paris apartment rental on the Ile Saint Louis. A Paris apartment rental, especially on the Ile Saint Louis is a good alternative to a hotel for a number of reasons. First, the location of the Ile Saint Louis is an ideal departure point for exploring all of Paris. Yes, there is no metro stop on Ile Saint Louis, but Pont Marie, Hotel de Ville and Chatelet metro stops are not far. Because Ile Saint Louis is in the center of what was once the birthplace of Paris, many important sights are an easy walk: Notre Dame, the hotel De Ville, the Place Dauphine, the Pont Neuf, and the aforementioned Places des Vosges and Marais area. Even the Louvre is not very far from Ile Saint Louis, perhaps a twenty-minute stroll.
Secondly, a Paris apartment rental on the Ile Saint Louis will certainly give you more room than a hotel room in the same area. Hotel rooms in Paris are generally small, and the Ile Saint Louis, which has everything scaled-down, is notorious. If you are travelling with a family, a Paris apartment rental on Ile Saint Louis is far preferable than squeezing into a hotel room, or having to pay for two, still not giving you the space or comfort of a guest apartment.
Thirdly, staying in a Paris apartment rental on the Ile Saint Louis will allow you to relax on your return from a day of sightseeing in a quiet, pleasant enviroment. In your own Paris apartment, you’ll be able to also enjoy some meals at home, which you will certainly want to do after visiting the local pastry shops, greengrocer and cheesemonger on the Ile Saint Louis. This way you can save your euros for a big splurge at Mon Vieil Ami.
And lastly, staying in a Paris apartment rental on the Ile Saint Louis will allow you to feel like a native, and to imagine living in a simpler time and place, to make your stay in Paris that much more magical. Legend has it that if you kiss someone on the Pont Marie, a bridge leading to the Ile Saint Louis, you will always return to Paris. Once you have stayed on the ile Saint Louis in your own Paris apartment rental, you will most definitely feel like you have a home in Paris forever.
Guest Apartment Services
Ile Saint Louis luxury apartments rental
Tel : +33 1 46 33 37 73
Reservation : http://www.guestapartment.com/reservation.html
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