Le Village Saint-Paul

Welcome to Le Village Saint-Paul. Narrow alleys, old courtyard walls, the smell of aged wood drifting from antique shops. It feels quietly forgotten.

What you're standing on was once the private garden of King Charles V, who built his royal palace here in 1360. He had grown tired of the Louvre and wanted something grander and more personal. A whole complex of houses, gardens, and courtyards rose up right here. The palace itself was demolished in 1550, but the courtyards? They refused to go. In the attached photo you see how the place should have looked like.

After the First World War, city officials declared the whole neighbourhood officially unhealthy, which sounds terrible but was accidentally wonderful. Low rents attracted workers and small craftsmen, filling these old stones with new life. The character of the place was saved by neglect.