Café de la Gare

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The Café de la Gare is a well known live theater in the Marais district of Paris, but I find that the real charm of the theater is in the courtyard in front of the entrance. See, not only is there a theater in this courtyard, but there's also a café, and not only that, almost all the other spaces surrounding the courtyard are filled by a dance school. When you walk into this 16th-century courtyard, you are typically surrounded by the echos of music on all sides, as classes in many different types of dance are held simultaneously. It's like walking into a movie, and has a certain irresistible charm. Needless to say, sitting at the café for a drink provides plenty of relaxing atmosphere.

The buildings you see here are four hundred years old, but they were recently restored and cleaned, so they look practically new, apart from the style.

Despite the name of the café, there is no railway station nearby (gare means "train station" in French).

Photographed on July 12, 2008.