Courtyard Week: Cour de Rohan

Whenever I take my clients on a St. Germain des Pres tour, I love to take them to the Passage Cour du Commerce St. Andre in between Blvd. St. Germain and rue St. Andre des Arts. It's a charming passage dating back to the 1600s where the oldest restaurant in Paris still stands, Le Procope, along with small shops selling toys and games, cards, and knick knacks. Off the passage is one of my favorite courtyards on the Cour de Rohan, a gated alleyway. It contains three connecting courtyards folding on to one another from the 14th century. Part of it is a piece of the remaining wall that King Louis Philippe had built to protect the city in 1200.

I love the wild ivy,the sprawling trees, the hue of the pink stone, the dark ancient wood doors and standing in a place where a certain world used to exist.

Passage Cour du Commerce St. Andre/ Cour de Rohan, 6th arr.
Entrance at 128 Blvd. St. Germain or on rue St. Andre des Arts
Metro: Odeon

New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.

Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.

Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Comments

[Jean P]

I'm loving the beautiful and often secret courtyards this week. Reminds me of exploring in Aix en Provence when a student in the 60s.

[gilda]

I love courtyard views. I would much rather have a view of a courtyard with foliage outside my window than a water view, and I am very happy to report that that is what I have here in Bill's apartment. And, a couple of people in this building maintain the most beautiful garden in the back with antique garden tables and figurines, and a saint figurine in the middle which is lit up at night and the first thing you see when you come in the front building door is the view out the back building door which is kept open so the feral cats can come in for inside the door feral cat food and necessary shelter when the weather is bad. And I see trees out my little office window where I am right now and sometimes there are little birdies and I have beautiful ivy plants growing up and down the window guard of my tiny office windowsill.
I look forward to more courtyard views in Paris as they come in.