Places Des Vosges
It's a strange feeling, leaving the busy Rue St. Antoine and entering the quiet, calm Place des Vosges in the south-east corner of the Marais district. The nine Renaissance buildings along each side of the square park create an illusion of seclusion and after a long walk through the Marais it is the perfect halting-place. On a sunny day, you can lay on one of the well-tended lawns of the park. If it's cloudy or raining, the surrounding archways offer cafés, restaurants, art galleries and shops. Many Paris visitors - and probably Parisians too - rank the Place des Vosges as the most beautiful place in Paris, maybe even in the world. Luckily, it hasn't turned into a jam-packed, touristy sight like Place du Tertre. Perhaps this has to do with the prices; an apartment at the Place des Vosges costs around $3-4,000,000 and selling ordinary souvenirs probably won't earn you enough to afford one of the shops in the archways.
Place des Vosges was built in the 17th century on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles, which Catherine de Medici had torn down after Henry II had died in it in 1559. It was close by that the famous joust, in which the King was mortally wounded in an accident, took place. Nostradamus is wrongfully believed to have predicted the incident (he had on the contrary predicted the King a long and happy life just the year before).
The site hosted a horse market for some time before Henry IV decided to build a new Hôtel des Tournelles in 1605. The construction was inaugurated in 1612 and was a popular area for walks and duels until the park was created in 1685.
The square was originally named Place Royale, but as politics changed, so did addresses (see left margin). In tribute to the first French department that paid tax, Napoleon Bonaparte renamed it Place des Vosges in 1799. After some changing back and forth during the 19th century, it's been Place des Vosges since 1870.
Although the Marais district have had its ups and downs, Place des Vosges has always been the home of the well-heeled; nobility, courtesans, financiers, politicians, artists and so on. Richelieu used to live in no. 21, Marion De lorme in no. 11 (also said to have lived in no. 6), Rachel in no. 9 and last but not least, Victor Hugo in no. 6 - now a museum called Maison Victor Hugo. Teophile Gautier was Hugo's next-door neighbour.
On 2 March 1848, Victor Hugo delivered a speech in the park when a Tree of Liberty was planted. In June, a gang of rioters broke in to the Hugo residence, without causing any real harm but the family decided to leave the Place des Vosges, which had been their home for 16 years.
It might be that the Place des Vosges would not qualify as a Hugo sight if it hadn't been for the fact that Hugo lived in no. 6 and it might be argued that this page could have sorted under the Maison Victor Hugo page. But this square, the oldest in Paris, is somehow worth the attention. And if you are going to visit the Hugo museum, it is strongly advised that you plan for an extra hour or two, just to enjoy this Renaissance oasis.