The 2nd arrondissement is colloquially referred to as deuxième (second/the second).Also known as Bourse, this arrondissement is located on the right bank of the River Seine. The 2nd arrondissement, together with the adjacent 8th and 9th arrondissements, hosts an important business district, centred on the Paris Opéra, which houses the city's most dense concentration of business activities. The arrondissement contains the former Paris Bourse (stock exchange) and several banking headquarters, as well as a textile district, known as the Sentier, and the Opéra-Comique's theatre, the Salle Favart. The 2nd arrondissement is the home of Grand Rex, the largest movie theatre in Paris.
The 2nd arrondissement is also the home of most of Paris's surviving 19th-century glazed commercial arcades. At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the streets of Paris were dark, muddy, and lacked sidewalks. A few entrepreneurs copied the success of the Passage des Panoramas and its well-lit, dry, and paved pedestrian passageways. By the middle of the 19th century, there were about two dozen of these commercial malls, but most of them disappeared as the Paris authorities paved the main streets and added sidewalks, as well as gas street lighting.
Source: Wikipedia
Paris in 20 Walks: 2nd Arrondissement
Best streets
Rue Montorgueil [no. 8]
Rue Montmartre [no. 11]
Place des Petits Peres [no. 13]
Rue des Petits Champs [no. 15]
Sentier [no. 24]
Passages
Passage du Bourg-L'Abbe [no. 2]
Passage du Grand Cerf [no. 3]
Passage du Ponceau [no. 4]
Passage du Caire [no. 5]
Galerie Vivienne [no. 14]
Galerie Colbert [no. 16]
Passage Sainte-Anne [no. 20]
Passage Choiseul [no. 21]
Passage des Panoramas [no. 27]
Passage des Princes [no. 28]
Gardens
Oasis d'Aboukir [no. 7]
Square Louvois [no. 19]
Museums/ Theatres & Libraries
Tour Jean Sans Peur [no. 1]
Bibliotheque Nationale de France Richelieu [no. 18]
Le Grand Rex [no. 26]
National Theater of the Opera Comique [no. 29]
Churches
Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires [no. 12]
Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle [no. 25]
Other Landmarks
Palais Brongniart (formerly the stock exchange) [no. 23]
Restaurants, Cafes, Bars, Patisseries
Boneshaker [no. 6]
Au Rocher de Cancale [no. 9]
Stohrer [no. 10]
Le Grand Colbert [no. 17]
Starbucks (the most scenic in the world!) [no. 30]
Harry's New York Bar [no. 31]
Markets
Marche Bourse [no. 22]