Le Marais: mansions and the Pletzl
Vaulted arcades, a free history museum, and the best falafel queue in Paris. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Place des Vosges
Start under the arcades, not in the middle. Walk the full square clockwise on the covered side — the brick-and-stone rhythm is the oldest planned square in the city, and the shade is yours even in August.

2. Hôtel de Sully
Slip through the door at number 62 rue Saint-Antoine into the courtyard, then the *orangerie* passage that links back to the *place*. A 17th-century *hôtel particulier* (private mansion) you can cut straight through — most people walk past the entrance entirely.

3. Rue des Rosiers
The spine of the *Pletzl*, the old Jewish quarter. Falafel from the window counters at lunch, kosher bakeries, Hebrew lettering above shopfronts. Eat standing up; that's how it's done here.

4. Musée Carnavalet
The museum of the city's own history, and entry to the permanent collection is free. You don't have to do all of it — the twin courtyards and the period rooms are reward enough for half an hour.

5. Rue Vieille-du-Temple
Walk it slowly for the carved doorways and the run of *hôtels particuliers* behind them. Push any half-open *porte cochère* and you'll usually find a courtyard nobody minds you glancing into.

6. Village Saint-Paul
A chain of linked courtyards between rue Saint-Paul and rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul, full of antique and *brocante* dealers. Easy to miss the entrances; once in, let yourself get a little lost before the last courtyard spits you out near the river.

Le Marais: mansions and the Pletzl