Underground & cool · Bookshop & gallery · € · 3e · Haut Marais

Ofr.

Alexandre and Marie Thumerelle's bookshop in the Haut-Marais, the supply line for independent fashion, photography, design and art magazines from Seoul to São Paulo. A small gallery behind it runs rolling exhibitions and launches.

Booking through this link may earn par.is a commission. Same price as anywhere.

Getting there

• Temple390 m · 2 min walk
• République358911280 m · 5 min walk
• Arts et Métiers311340 m · 6 min walk

Around the corner

Walks that pass nearby

• Cocktail Barsstop 6 of 6 · 160 m

  Bisou

  15 Boulevard du Temple, opened 2018 by ex-Mary Celeste bartender Nicolas Munoz. No menu — you tell the bartender what spirits and flavours you like, and they make you a drink. The deliberate inverse of the cocktail-book ritual: every drink is bespoke.

  No menu means you have to talk. Try "something with mezcal, smoky, not too sweet" or "surprise me with a gin drink" — both will be taken seriously. The bar is small, around 20 seats; arrive early or expect to wait. End of the cocktail tour, or the start of a longer night.

• Canal Saint-Martinstop 1 of 6 · 270 m

  Place de la République

  1880, redesigned 2013. The 9.5 m bronze statue of Marianne (allegory of the Republic) at the centre, with the three smaller figures at her feet representing Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Pedestrianised in 2013; one of the few large public squares in the city without traffic in the middle.

  The square is a major demonstration site — if there's been an event in the news, the base of the statue is often covered in candles, flowers, and posters. Walk to the north-east corner of the square; that's where Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple begins, and the canal is one block north.

• Upper Maraisstop 1 of 6 · 300 m

  Square du Temple

  Where the medieval Temple complex once stood — the headquarters of the Knights Templar in France, demolished by Napoleon in 1808. Louis XVI was imprisoned in the Temple's tower from 1792 until his execution. Now a gentle public garden with a bandstand and a playground.

  Enter from Rue de Bretagne. The bronze plaque on the south wall traces the outline of the medieval Temple precinct. The garden's hidden secret: a small carp pond at the back, almost always empty of visitors.

• Markets of Parisstop 1 of 6 · 320 m

  Marché des Enfants Rouges

  39 Rue de Bretagne, founded 1615 — the oldest covered market in Paris. Named for the red-clothed orphans of a nearby 16th-century orphanage. Now equal parts produce and prepared-food stalls; the Moroccan and Italian counters at lunch are excellent.

  Closed Mondays. Lunch is the move — three or four prepared-food counters serve actual meals at communal tables in the back. The Moroccan tagine counter is the local favourite; arrive at noon to beat the queue. Closes 14:30.

Within a few minutes' walk

• Le BaravWine bar with food€ · 3 minA corner wine bar with some 250 references you can drink on site or carry out from the attached cave, set against boards of charcuterie and cheese. Lunch is a short list of tartines, salads and a homemade plat.
• Chez OmarNorth African couscous€€ · 5 minAn old-Marais brasserie that has poured couscous for decades — merguez, lamb brochettes, or the mixed-meat royale — in a room that fills loud and fast.
• Little Red DoorCocktail bar€€€ · 5 minA fixture on the World's 50 Best list, it builds each menu around one argument — the current one ties every drink to agriculture and sustainability. The name's red door is a feint; there is no trick, just the bar.
• LavomaticSpeakeasy bar€€ · 6 minA cocktail bar reached by pressing a button on a fake washing machine inside a working-looking laundromat; upstairs, pop-coloured poufs and swing seats.
• CandelariaSpeakeasy bar€€ · 7 minOrder a taco at the counter of a narrow taquería, then push through the unmarked white door at the back into the room that opened the city's speakeasy era in 2011. The cocktails stay precise and agave-led.
• BisouBespoke cocktail bar€€ · 7 minNo drinks menu at all: tell the bartender your mood and they build a bespoke cocktail from seasonal produce. A second bar, Bisou Canal, sits on Quai de Jemmapes in the 10th.

Where to stay near Ofr.

• Hôtel Jules & JimBoutique hotel€€ · 7 minThree buildings knitted around two cobbled courtyards on a quiet Haut-Marais street, raised over a former precious-metals workshop. The courtyard bar with its outdoor fireplace has become a reason locals come in.
• Experimental MaraisDesign hotel€€€ · 7 minThe Experimental Group's 2025 flagship on rue du Temple, where Tristan Auer answered the Marais's medieval bones with grand arches and stained glass. The restaurant Temple & Chapon sits under a cathedral-scale glass roof; a pool waits in the spa below.
• Hôtel Ginette à la FolieBoutique hotel€€ · 9 minA four-star between République and Oberkampf whose rooftop is planted with two fig trees. Rooms are individually decorated, with a spa that can be booked out privately, within a short walk of the canal.

More underground & cool, nearest first

• Musée de la Chasse et de la NatureUnusual museum · 3e · 510 m€€