Hôtel de Sauvage – When Lovers Began to Fly

Rue Francs-Bourgeois is undoubtedly one of the most charming streets in Paris, thanks to the collection of palaces spread along it and the fact that its boutiques often ignore the custom of closing shops on Sundays, which makes the street lively even on weekends. If you walk down this street and reach the corner of Rue des Archives, you will discover a charming palace from the early 18th century and a small medieval tower next to it. This palace has a story that includes all the ingredients of a good movie, namely violence, sex, violence and more sex, and today we will tell its fascinating story.

Hôtel de Clisson: The Bloody Middle Ages

The palace was originally built in 1371 for a military man Olivier de Clisson (Olivier de Clisson, 1336-1407) and was initially named after him. This Clisson became famous in French history as a close friend of Kings Charles V (1338-1380) and Charles VI (1368-1422) and as commander of the French army (and later also as Count of France).

Being an important man, de Clisson made quite a few enemies, and in 1392, Pierre de Craon (1345-1409), a servant of the Duke of Brittany, attempted to assassinate him in a dark alley in Paris. De Clisson narrowly escaped the assassination and set out with King Charles VI to hunt down the murderer.

During the hunt, de Clisson and the king entered the forest and encountered a leprous beggar, who shouted at the king, “Do not enter the forest, you will be betrayed.” The group ignored the beggar and continued on, but the king’s nerves were weakened after this encounter. Several hours later, while walking in the forest, one of the servants accidentally dropped his bayonet and the king, as a result of the panic that gripped him, lost his mind and attacked his friends.

From that moment on, the king’s sanity never returned, and he went from “Charles the Beloved” to “Charles the Mad.” The courtiers blamed Olivier de Clisson for the disaster, and he was forced to leave his palace in Paris and flee to Brittany, where he reconciled with the Duke and ended his life as a very wealthy man in 1407.

Hôtel des Guises: Renaissance, Wars of Religion and Flying Lovers

Over the years, the palace passed through several hands until in 1553 the property was purchased by François de Lorraine (1519-1563), Duke of Guise, and his wife Anne d'Este (1531-1607). The powerful and wealthy Guise family expanded and dramatically transformed the building in the Renaissance style, and the palace, known at this time as the Hôtel de Guise, became the epicenter of the extremist Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion. According to historical records, the plot that led to the brutal St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572 was hatched within its walls.

Because the 70s and 80s were one of the most turbulent periods in history Paris, the Duke left the Gothic tower facing Rue Des Archives for military reasons (and we get to enjoy this beauty today). Another tower in the same palace, which stood on the corner of Rue Des Archives and Quatre Fils and which is no longer with us today, had a somewhat less conventional historical role.

In 1578, Henry I caught his wife Catherine de Clèves (1548-1633) with her lover, the Lord de Saint-Mégrin (1554-1578), and without thinking twice, he threw the lover from the top of the tower into the street. The lover, unfortunately, could not fly and the Duke's soldiers finished the job in the street with several sword blows. Like his lover, Henry I did not end his life naturally, and in 1588 he was murdered by order of the French King Henry III (1551-1589) in the castle Blois.

During the 17th century, the Guise family continued to be one of the wealthiest families in France, and their sons were important patrons of the arts in Paris. Alongside its turbulent political history, the palace served as a brilliant cultural court where artists such as the playwright Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) worked. One of the most important composers to benefit from the Guise family's money was Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704), who lived in the palace until 1688, when he began writing his famous Te Deum, which you hear at the beginning of every Eurovision Song Contest.

Hôtel de Sauvage and the National Archives of France: The Royal Mistress Who Saved the Day

In 1696, the last of the Guise family died, and the division of their treasures marked not only the end of the family but also the beginning of the decline of the dynasty. Marais DistrictThe palace also began to deteriorate, and after being sold to the Portuguese embassy, ​​it was turned into a gambling den by them... and yet the palace had not yet said its last word, and within a few years it would become one of the most impressive palaces in the Marais, all thanks to a royal mistress.

Naturally, the king could not ignore her beauty and began to court her vigorously. So when the Prince de Sauvage and his wife were looking for a place to live in Paris, the king offered to buy for them the crumbling palace of the Guise family (purchased in 1700) and build, at his own expense, a magnificent palace for them.

Unlike the Duc de Guise who lived there before him, the Duc de Sauvage was not bothered by his wife's love affairs (including the fact that his young son looked like a replica of Louis XIV), and he decided to ignore the royal affair. Thus, on the ruins of the Palace of Guise, a new and magnificent palace was built, which is now called the Hôtel de Sauvage.

The young architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair (1675-1745) was hired for the task, and it was he who changed the direction of the entrance to the building and created the monumental, columned Court of Honor (Cour d'honneur) that we see today (he took his inspiration from the colonnade built by Bernini in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican). "Good souls" said that while the king donated the timber (a play on words about the "horns" the king had made for the duke), the duke's friends provided the stones (i.e., they laughed at him).

The palace's great artistic transformation occurred in 1732, when Hercule-Mériadec de Rohan-Soubise (1669-1749), François' son, remarried the 19-year-old Marie-Sophie de Courcillon (1713-1756). To impress her, he hired the celebrated architect Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) to redesign the interiors in the sumptuous French Rococo style.

During the 18th century, the palace was home to Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise (1715-1787), a close friend of Louis XV (1710-1774), who became famous not only as one of France's most unsuccessful generals (and, as is well known, he had much competition) but also for the famous onion sauce, which still bears his name today. During French Revolution The palace was expropriated from the Sauvage family, looted by the revolutionaries and used as a gunpowder warehouse while lottery ticket booths were set up in its gardens. The palace was saved thanks to Napoleon I (Napoléon Ier, 1769-1821), who decided on March 6, 1808, to purchase the building and house the archives of the empire (which later became the National Archives).

From the Empire to the Present Day: From Document Storage to Open Museum

So what happened to our magnificent palace since it became the official paper kingdom of France in 1808? Well, it kept growing. Throughout the 19th century, more and more buildings were added to the complex to accommodate the ever-expanding French history.

In 1867, under the reign of Napoleon III (Napoléon III, 1808-1873), the Marquis Léon de Laborde (1807-1869) decided that it made no sense to hide all these treasures from the public, and instead founded the “Museum of Archives” (Musée des Archives), which for the first time displayed rare historical documents for all to see.

Over the years, the archive has amassed millions of documents, including those documenting the French Revolution, the two world wars, and even the original manuscript of General de Gaulle's (1890-1970) June 18, 1940 call. Just as the place was about to burst with history, a vast, innovative archival center opened in 2013 in the suburb of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine.

But don't worry, the Hôtel des Sauvage is not left defunct; it still houses the archives of the old regime (before the revolution), the documents of the notaries of Paris, and of course – continues to function as a living and breathing museum. (If you ask me, these papers got to live in a much nicer palace than most Parisians today.)

Palace Tour: What's Hidden in the Rooms of Hôtel de Sauvage?

Today, the palace is home to the National Archives of France (officially opened in 1867). But don’t let the word “archive” fool you into thinking it’s a boring room of dust and paperwork – the interior design is a breathtaking display of French Rococo architecture. Here’s what we recommend not to miss as you wander through the palace’s rooms:

The Prince's Office Apartments (Ground Floor)

The lower floor was intended for the prince's residence and is characterized by a slightly more restrained and "masculine" design compared to the floor above.

• The Prince's Oval Salon (Salon ovale du Prince): This space is decorated in delicate shades of white and gray-lilac. It is decorated with impressive plaster reliefs by Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759) representing “history”. Above the doors you will find paintings by important artists such as Carle Vanloo (1705-1765) and Jean Restout (1692-1768). (Interesting anecdote: during the Paris Commune in 1871, this magnificent room was temporarily converted into a clinic).
  
• The Prince's Bedroom (Chambre du Prince): Retained its original woodwork. The room is decorated with four paintings depicting the loves of the gods, including works by Pierre-Charles Trémolières (1703-1739).
  
• The Little Cabinet (Petit Cabinet): An intimate space that served as a closet. It features beautiful blue cameo medallions by François Boucher (1703-1770) depicting “The Hunt” and “The Fisherman.”

The Princess's Office Apartments (first floor)

The upper floor is the crowning glory, representing the height of the splendor and decorative refinement of the Louis XV era. Beaufran created here a series of rooms designed to grace the hostess in the cultural salons.

• The Oval Princess Salon (Salon de la Princesse): The pinnacle of French Rococo art. A space that combines huge mirrors set within wide arches, gilded plasterwork and a spectacular blue ceiling. The highlight here are the eight panels decorated with paintings by Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700-1777) from 1738, which depict the myth of Psyche and Amor. Just stand and stare.
  
• The Princess's Ceremonial Bedroom (Chambre d'apparat): A room decorated with white and gilded wood panels. Gilded plaster medallions depict Jupiter's love adventures (it turns out that the princess liked bold themes). In the alcove of the bed hang two famous pastoral paintings by François Boucher (1703-1770).
  
• Canopy Hall (Salle du Dais): Originally used as an entrance hall, it now houses exceptional pieces of historical furniture, such as the serving tables that served as the buffet for the Revolutionary Tribunal during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution.

Hidden Treasures: Documents That Will Change What You Thought About History

Beyond design, the venue presents permanent exhibitions of unique original documents that shaped France and the world. Among them:

• The Royal Papyrus: Signed by the Merovingian king Clotaire II (584-629) from 625 AD (the oldest document in the archive!).
  
• The Iron Wardrobe (L'Armoire de Fer): A sophisticated steel vault built in 1790 to protect the nation's important documents (opened only by 3 different keys held by separate functionaries). Although not always directly accessible, it houses, among other things, the first standard measures of the meter and kilogram.
  
• Revolutionary items: The desk attributed to the last guard of Robespierre (Maximilien Robespierre, 1758-1794), the original iron key of the Bastille, and the infernal machine (Machine infernale) by Giuseppe Fieschi (1790-1836) that was intended to assassinate King Louis-Philippe Ier (Louis-Philippe Ier, 1773-1850) in 1835. In short – everything that makes up a fine French drama! And sometimes even rare temporary exhibitions such as the presentation of the wills of Napoleon (Napoléon Ier, 1769-1821) and Victor Hugo (Victor Hugo, 1802-1885).

The Green Pearl: The Gardens of Hôtel de Sauvage and the Neighboring Palaces

If the palace’s beauty from the inside is breathtaking, wait until you step outside. Behind the stone facades are hidden gardens that form a hidden green lung in the heart of the Marais district, spanning a vast area of ​​about 10,000 square meters.

These gardens have undergone many changes throughout history, but in 2008 the French Ministry of Culture initiated a comprehensive landscape restoration project under the direction of landscape architect Louis Benech (born 1957). The restored gardens were opened to the public in 2011. In fact, they are not a single garden but a series of historic gardens belonging to adjacent palaces that together make up the complex:

• Garden of the Hotel de Rohan: A formal classical garden originally designed by the king's gardener André Le Nôtre (1613-1700). It features a wide central lawn surrounded by avenues of shady plane trees (platanes), which recreate the monumental perspective that connected the palaces.
  
• Garden of the Hôtels d'Assy and Breteuil: A romantic 19th-century-style urban garden that preserves a small pond and an artificial stream created in 1848. There is a Himalayan chestnut tree (Aesculus indica) here, the only one of its kind in Paris, estimated to be about 150 years old, alongside spectacular Chinese wisteria bushes.
  
• Garden of the Hotel de Fontenay: Including two gloriettes made of intricate wooden latticework, the lawn here is designed in a landscape pattern called “Mille-fleurs” – a mosaic of herbaceous plants and wildflowers that give a rural feel in the middle of an urban area.
  
• Garden of the Hotel de Jaucourt: Designed as a sweet agricultural-cultural orchard with deciduous fruit trees (pears, apples), Japanese loquat and catalpa. An ideal place to read a book (or just take a light afternoon nap).

Important tourist information (how, how much and why)

A visit to the Hôtel des Sauvages and its gardens is one of the most highly recommended cultural experiences in Paris, especially since most of the grounds are open to the public free of charge all year round. So, so you don’t miss out on your next trip to the Marais, here are all the important details. Just remember, when you’re walking down the street there, look up every now and then, lest some lover stumble upon you…

• 📍 Exact address: The palace is located at 60, rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. The main entrance to the gardens is through the courtyard of honor of the Hôtel des Sauvage (turn right at the end of the colonnaded avenue).
  
• (I.e. How to get there: The nearest metro stations are Rambuteau (line 11), Hôtel de Ville (lines 1 and 11), and Saint-Paul (line 1). You can also take bus lines 29 and 75.
  
• 🕒 Museum opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 to 17:30. On weekends (Saturday and Sunday) from 14:00 to 17:30. The place Closed on Tuesdays, as well as on official holidays (January 1, May 1, December 25).
  
• Opening hours of the gardens: The gardens are open every day! In the spring and summer season (March to October) from 08:00 am to 20:00 pm. In the fall and winter season (October to March) from 08:00 am to 17:00 pm.
  
• 💶 Costs: Admission to the permanent collections, the ministry apartments, and the historic gardens is Completely free And no need to book in advance! For temporary exhibitions, there may sometimes be a nominal fee of 5 to 8 euros, and a guided tour of the palace will cost about 8 euros per person.
  
• (I.e. accessibility: The archive management has invested heavily in accessibility. The ground floor and gardens are fully wheelchair accessible via a ramp. The site also offers tactile tours (with touch devices), audio aids for the hearing impaired, and explanatory leaflets in Braille.