Le Marais was once a swamp or marsh (marais), but was later settled and became the center of the Jewish community in Paris.

Located to the east of the imposing Hôtel de Ville on the Seine's Right Bank in the 3e and 4e arrondissements, the rundown district was threatened with destruction and modernization during the 1970s' rage for civic "improvement."

The writer André Malraux led a movement to preserve Le Marais's narrow, winding streets and derelict but picturesque old houses. They had survived the French Revolution and the monumental rebuilding of Paris into Napoleon's imperial capital by Baron Haussmann. Could this vestige of medieval Paris avoid the crane's wrecking ball?

It could, and it did, and today Le Marais is among the most-visited districts of central Paris. Its narrow streets are lined with artsy cafés, bars and restaurants, trendy boutiques catering to the young, mod and creative (including the lively gay scene).

The rue des Rosiers is still a center of Jewish life, with several kosher restaurants, immensely popular falafel shops, and some synagogues and schools.