Just behind the cathedral the city dissolves into a 135-hectare network of canals, kitchen gardens, and orchards known as the Marais. It is one of the most surprising pieces of urban landscape in France: a working agricultural quarter inside a small city, drained and cultivated since the Middle Ages.
Walk the towpaths between the parcels in the morning when locals are out tending vegetables. Boat trips on the canals run from late spring through early autumn. The Marais is protected as a Site Classé.