It was a sunny but cold Saturday so I took no chances and wore leggings under my jeans as well as two pairs of socks. And I stayed fairly warm as I walked to the place des Vosges to tour the apartment of Victor Hugo, France’s great poet and writer. But first, some information about place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris. 
In the early 1600s, Henri IV (Louis XIII’s father) decided to take over the horse market which had previously occupied this site to build a new square. (Louis XIII sits atop a horse in the center of the square; the original one was melted down during the Revolution, as so many others, and replaced in 1825.) Originally called the place Royal, the square, which has changed very 
little since the time it was built, turned the Marais into Paris’ most exclusive neighborhood. It is surrounded by 36 red brick pavilions—nine on each side—mounted on vaulted arcades.The two highest pavilions facing each other on opposite sides of the square are designated the Pavilion of the King and Queen; however, no royals have ever lived in the square. Despite what today's nannies tells the kids in the sandboxes, those two pavillions were never intended for royal residences but as sites to view ceremonies. The square at that time was paved with cobblestones and left completely vacant for parades, grand processions marking royal arrivals, marriages, elaborate fireworks, etc. Throughout the 17th century, this square remained the focus of French social and literary life; and many aristocracy and other prominent people lived here including Sully, Cardinal Richelieu, Theophile Gautier, Daudet, etc.
It was renamed in 1799 when Napoleon, in order to encourage the various countries to pay their taxes and support the Revolutionary army, promised naming rights to the district that paid first. The Vosges region near Germany anteed up and thus, place des Vosges. In the 19th century, the Marais became more of a working-class neighborhood and home to the Jewish population. Although it never recovered its social position, the Marais once again became briefly a resort of some of France’s major writers, including Victor Hugo. Today you'll find a number of art galleries, shops, and cafes under the arcades.
Between 1832 and 1848, Hugo lived at #6 with his wife and four children. He had already enjoyed widespread success with his novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” and would write many major works here including much of “Les Miserables.” By the way, the popularity of the Hunchback shamed the city of Paris to undertake restoration of the much-neglected Notre-Dame, which was now attracting thousands of tourists who had read the novel (reminds me of the current connection between “The Da Vinci Code” and the Louvre). On 1/22/07, I blogged about the architect, Viollet-le-Duc, looking up from his perch on the spire at the backside of Notre-Dame admiring his great work.
The mansion at place des Vosges was converted into a museum in 1902 on the occasion of Hugo's 100th birthday. It displays several rooms which include family paintings and pictures; his writing desk; a bust of Hugo done by Rodin; his pen-and-ink drawings; other furniture and awards received during his lifetime. The museum’s brochure says the apartment reflects the three major periods around which Hugo structured his life—before exile, during exile, and after exile. At one time, he openly declared Napoleon a traitor and fled to Brussels and then some islands between France and England where, fearing for his life, he lived for a time.Victor Hugo was very popular with the French during most of his life. His funeral procession at the age of 83 from the Arc de Triomphe to the Pantheon where he is buried was joined by more than two million people.
