It is a rapid mix of fast food and even faster coat racks, as stock analysts race to restaurants and garment workers race between trucks. A dynamic area where the sound of sewing machines in the little shops off the Rue Reaumur can be heard over the traffic din.

Established in 1860 under the general re-organization of Paris, it is one of the more populated sectors of the city with 19,585 people and roughly the same density per square kilometer.

Along with the 9th, the 2nd Arrondissement shares the honor of being central Paris’ main place to be in the after-hours, with its many theaters and restaurants along the Boulevard des Italiens, Montmartre, Poissoniere, and Bonne Nouvelle.

Historically it is one of the oldest sections of town, containing the “Montorgueil” area, with its warren of little back streets and pedestrian alleys first settled in the Middle Ages, granting eventual access to the “Halles” of the 1st and the Beaubourg center of the 3rd.