Juif: Jew
Juive: Jewess
pluie: rain
Hôtel de Ville: city hall
quartier: quarter, neighborhood -pronounced like Cartier, the jeweler
marais: marsh
Today's post is especially for my favorite Juive, Mademoiselle Jacqui:
Today while headed home in the rain, I decided to walk all the way from the Hôtel de Ville back to rue Popincourt so that I could make a tour of Jewish Paris...or at least part of it. While Paris has vast suburbs, the 20 arrondissements contain a fairly compact area. Of course, Jewish Parisians live throughout the city. In fact, I encountered a Hassidic Jewish couple in Passy on Saturday, and there is a Jewish center about two blocks from my apartment -the Centre Maayan.
Still, Le Marais, literally the marsh since it was built in a low-lying former marsh, serves as the traditional Jewish quartier -as well as Paris' most famous gay neighborhood.
The rue de Rosiers, the Street of Roses, marks the heart of the Jewish section. There are at least two synagogues I found there as well as a kosher pizza place. There are several restaurants and shops with Judaica and bakeries with Hebrew signs and fresh-baked challah. I think the primary Jewish community here must be Hassidic to judge by the people walking in the area.
With all its restaurants and trendy shops, the Marais has a lot of tourists and local Gentile people living, eating, and shopping there too. I saw several shops selling the famous falafel sandwich that I'll blog about another time.
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