Paris - Montparnasse Travel Guides | Paris | Sub Regions | Paris - Montparnasse

When the artists, composers and poets drifted away from Montmartre between the turn of the century and the Second World War, it was to Montparnasse that they came. This quartier quickly became the centre of new culture. Americans in particular are remembered for carving their niche here on the Left Bank: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein. An intense drinking scene was born, and most of their favourite haunts along the boulevard Montparnasse still exist today, including the Café Dome, La Coupole, Closerie des Lilas and Le Select. The good old days petered to a halt in the 1970s with the construction of Maine- Montparnasse – a business area comprising the new railway station, a shopping mall and Tour Montparnasse, the capital’s first skyscraper. Such initiatives meant the displacement of working-class families under the guise of development. Nowadays Montparnasse is neither as credible nor as lively as it once was – the majority of its personalities reside in the Montparnasse cemetery. Brassy, glitzy cafés still exist, but tourists make up a larger and larger percentage of their customers. The best time to explore is at night, when the boulevard flickers with neon and the cafés buzz with a less impersonal atmosphere.

Sights

Place Raoul Dautry, 75014, T 01 45 38 52 56, http://www.tourmont parnasse56.com Apr-Sep Mon-Sun 0930-2300; Oct-Mar 0930-2200. €8, 5-14s €6.50. M Montparnasse-Bienvenue.

Montparnasse Tower is one of those Paris landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower, that keeps cropping up in your line of vision, no matter where you seem to be. Unlike the Eiffel Tower it’s not that aesthetically pleasing. Or as tall. Nonetheless, at 209 m, it is the highest skyscraper in France. Built in 1973 – to a rather drab design of steel and glass – the tower was intended to kickstart a new business area. Visitors are welcome to pay to take the lift up to the 56th floor, where there is a bar and a restaurant. There is an open viewing platform on the 59th floor. On sunny days young tourists brave the wind and eat their sandwiches up here.

2 Impasse Lebouis, 75014, http://www.henricartierbresson.org M Gaité.

Cartier-Bresson fans will not be disappointed by this monument to the great photographer’s work, due to open in 2003. In addition to photographs taken over a 50-year period, space is dedicated to his paintings, drawings and writings.

3 blvd Edgar-Quinet, 75014, T 01 44 10 86 50. 6 Nov-15 Mar Mon-Fri 0800-1730, Sat 0830-1730, Sun 0900-1730; 16 Mar-5 Nov Mon-Fri 0800-0600, Sat 0830-0600, Sun 0900-0600. Free. M Edgar-Quinet, Raspail.

There is a good overhead view of the cemetery from the roof of the neighbouring Montparnasse tower, clearly showing how it is split into two parts by the rue Emile Richard. The old part appears haphazardly plotted, while the new part is much more spacious and orderly, with broad yew-lined avenues. In total there are some 34,000 tombs covering 19 ha. Not altogether surprisingly, this cemetery has proved popular with Left Bank celebrities. The new part is home to the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Charles Baudelaire and Serge Gainsbourg. In the old part, look out for the interesting grave of Charles Pigeon, the inventor. He lies next to his slumbering wife on a vast bed, reading by the light of the gas lamp he invented. Not far from the Pigeon bedstead lies Le Baiser (The Kiss), a beautifully simple work in stone by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

1 place Denfert-Rochereau, 75014, T 01 43 22 47 63. Wed-Sun 0900-1600, Tue 1100-1600. €5, concessions €3.30-€2.50, under 13s free. M Denfert-Rochereau.

Towards the end of the 18th century a law was passed confining burial grounds to the then city outskirts. The Catacombs were the first to be founded, in 1786. A 2-km section of an extensive 300-km underground network of quarries and tunnels was selected to serve as an ossuaire (bone depository). The rotting, putrid overflow from the city’s cemeteries was transferred here and unceremoniously dumped down disused quarry airshafts. When the Catacombs were first opened to the public in 1804, the femurs, tibias and skulls were stacked in neatly patterned ‘walls’, reaching up to 2 m high and 9 m deep. The French Resistance had their headquarters here during the Second World War. Nowadays illicit parties are rumoured to be held here by dedicated ‘Catophiles’, who are said to dynamite their way in through blocked tributary tunnels. This is the city’s most ghoulish – and poignant – attraction. There is little in the way of explanations for visitors, but the guided tours are excellent. Bring a torch.

100 bis rue d’Assas, 75006, T 01 55 42 77 20. Tue-Sun 1000-1800. €4, concessions €3, under 26s €2. M Vavin, Notre-Dame des Champs.

The little house where the Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine lived and worked for almost 40 years prior to his death in 1967 has been open to the public as a museum since 1982. Wood, bronze and stone sculptures unveiling his progress from Cubism to Abstractionism are cleverly arranged throughout the house and tiny garden plot.

Travel Guides | Paris | Sub Regions | Paris - Montparnasse
		Flights Cheap flights to any destination worldwide click here		Car Rental Compare prices for worldwide car rental click here		Hotels Lowest prices on over 60,000 hotels worldwide click here		Travel Insurance Compare Travel Insurance prices click here