Hôtel de Toulouse

The Hôtel de Toulouse is identified by the high stone wall that shields its massive courtyard from the street, revealing little of the limestone facade behind it. Built in seventeen thirty-five for the Count of Toulouse, the illegitimate son of Louis the fourteenth, this private mansion later became the home of the Banque de France. Inside, the Galerie Dorée remains preserved, featuring gilded carvings that survived the French Revolution, even as the building transitioned from an aristocratic residence into a national financial institution.