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Mº Chemin-Vert, Mº St-Paul & Mº Bastille . At the western end of rue des Francs-Bourgeois you can't miss the place des Vosges , a masterpiece of aristocratic elegance and the first example of planned development in the history of Paris. Begun in 1605 under Henri IV and inaugurated in 1612 for the wedding of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, it's a vast square of symmetrical brick and stone mansions built over arcades. These days, expensive restaurants spread their tables under the arcades, the shaded benches are a favourite spot with octogenarians, buskers fill the air with classical music and toddlers and schoolchildren giggle and play in the gardens. This is the only green space of any size in the locality and, unusually for Paris, you're actually allowed to sprawl on the grass. Through all the vicissitudes of history, the place has never lost its cachet as a smart address. Among the many celebrities who made their homes here was Victor Hugo; his house, at no. 6, where he wrote much of his novel Les Miserables , is now a museum, the Maison de Victor Hugo (Tues-Sun 10am-5.40pm; closed hols; ?4.12). Though the extraordinary Japanese dining room he put together holds some interest, the usual portraits, manuscripts and memorabilia shed sparse light on the man and his work, particularly if you don't read French. From the southwest corner of the place , a door leads through to the formal chateau garden, orangerie and exquisite Renaissance facade of the Hotel de Sully . The garden, with its park benches, makes for a peaceful rest-stop, or you can pass through the building, nodding at the sphinxes on the stairs, as a pleasing shortcut to rue St-Antoine. Temporary photographic exhibitions, usually with social, historical or anthropological themes, are mounted in the hotel by the Mission du Patrimoine Photographique (Tues-Sun 10am-6.30pm; ?3.81), and there's a good history-focused bookshop (Tues-Sun 10am-7pm).
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