Dipping into a French melting pot

The Grand Mosque. [Photo/Agencies]

Eastern European and Jewish

The city's most bracing history is literally written on its walls. Throughout Paris, you can see plaques commemorating Jewish citizens sent to their deaths by authorities during the Holocaust, plus the Mmorial des Martyrs de la Dportation on le de la Cit, marking the more than 200,000 people deported to concentration camps. But Jewish culture, including active synagogues, remains a stalwart of Le Marais.

The Librairie du Temple sells Hebrew and French texts; and the deli Sacha Finkelsztajn was founded in 1851.

I had a latke with meat, warmed up, that was appropriately greasy and utterly divine. The Marais is also trendy, gay-friendly and has a large North African population - a true cultural crossroads, and one built for a leisurely stroll.

The Jewish culture of Paris overlaps in places with the Russian and Eastern European communities in the city. Russians, in particular, have deep historical ties to the city. French and Russian nobles intermarried, and thousands of Russian soldiers moved to the city after France surrendered the Battle of Paris in 1814.

The Russian-Parisian writer Sergey Kuznetsov, who moved to Paris from Moscow, said: "People came to work and study and integrated. They do not have closed Russian communities."

Current political tensions could produce a new wave of Russians seeking places to live, he said: "the rich and refugees." The Russian government is funding a new cultural center, one with many architectural critics of its design, near the Eiffel Tower.

There are some enclaves, in the 16th Arrondissement, near the Russian embassy; and sites of interest including the main Orthodox church in the 17th and the pricey Cafe Pouchkine, which has several locations, including a new one on Saint-Germain.