REMNANTS OF THE PHILIPPE AUGUSTE ENCLOSURE

3 m wide and 9 m high, the enclosure built by Philippe Auguste between 1190 and 1209 on the right bank of the Seine did not give in the decorative! At a time when the future City of Lights was only a city subject to danger of invasions, the French king had to protect his people. Today, some remains of this tremendous construction continue. The Louvre tower was located at the level of the Pont des Arts, 25 m high, then, the wall crossed the Cour Carrée du Louvre. Go then to the 148-150 rue Saint-Honoré where the Saint-Honoré tower, against whose remains the current building leans, stood. Head then for 11 rue du Louvre where you can find the well-preserved base of a former surrounding-wall tower. The wall then followed the line of the current rue du Jour which you can take to go to rue Montmartre. Once you arrive at rue Montmartre, turn left and you are at the place of Porte de Montmartre whose plaque reminds us of the good memory at n°30. Turn right at rue Étienne-Marcel and go straight, thus going along the interior side of the enclosure. At n°20, admire the Tour Jean-sans-Peur which was built on the remains of a tower of the surrounding wall (visible on the ground floor), you can thus observe here two towers one on top of the other! Go then to 71-73 rue du temple, to the Saint-Aignan hotel where a vestige can be found in the courtyard (careful, you will have to pay an entrance to observe this trace of the past). Head then for 55 rue des Francs-Bourgeois where in the courtyard of the Crédit Municipal, you can admire a tower, undoubtedly the most moving vestige of the neighbourhood. End at rue des Jardins Saint-Paul, right in the heart of Le Marais, where you can find the most impressive remains since it is neither more nor less than the longest portion of 13th-century fortification visible in Paris!