Covered Passage near Beaubourg - Le Passage de l'Ancre

I have walked next to it hundred of times without noticing ! with no doubt, very hidden! 223 rue St Martin in the 3rd distric (Marais Beaubourg) don't miss next time you pass by I did!
The passage was restored less than ten years ago, and with its numerous plants you instantly feel like you're somewhere else, like a village. In the past it was called the passage de l'Ancre-Royale, then the passage l'Ancre-Nationale. Where does the name come from? Around 1637 there was an inn called Au Grand Saint Pierre run by Nicolas Sauvage. M. Sauvage was the first to invent the system of 'fiacres', the precursor of the taxi. Some of them were permanently reserved for the Royal Marines, hence the name.
Nowadays, the passage has a few workshops, one for kids and another for cooking: l'Atelier de Fréd (Fréd rose to minor fame after a TV show documented his culinary travels around the world).