Paris - St Germain and the Quartier Latin Travel Guides | Paris | Sub Regions | Paris - St Germain and the Quartier Latin

From philosophers to students, intellectuals to bohemians and tourists, together St Germain and the Latin Quarter, the 6th and 5th arrondissements respectively, represent the beating heart of the Left Bank. The main arteries are boulevard St Germain, which arcs parallel to the Seine, and boulevard St Michel, which runs perpendicular to it as far south as the Jardin du Luxembourg. St Germain was once a hotspot for thinkers and the literati, and still is to a degree, although today’s café clientele have deeper pockets. Some of the bookshops and publishing houses have relocated – edged out by competitors that can afford the climbing rents. South of boulevard St Germain, place St Sulpice is the perfect place for a drink overlooking the church – the traffic is tame compared to the main boulevard – followed by some designer shopping. Rue St-André-des-Arts, rue de Seine, rue du Four, rue de Sèvres and rue du Bac heave with fashion shops, contemporary art galleries and antique shops. At the southern end of rue du Bac is the Bon Marché department store. There is a fantastic food market on rue de Buci – there are also great markets on rue Mouffetard and rue Monge – well worth a wander even if all you buy is a wedge of Camembert or a handful of cherries. East of the boulevard St Michel, the jumbled alleyways of the Latin Quarter demand exploration – don’t be put off by the greasy smells from the cheap restaurants along rue de la Huchette and rue St Séverin. Clues to the quartier’s history are everywhere: in the buildings of the Sorbonne, in the Musée de Cluny, and beneath the looming dome of the Panthéon. This has been a student area for centuries, and students are usually around in numbers, most obviously chatting in straggly groups around the fountain on the place St Michel. Overlooking the Seine are the legendary bouquinistes, weather-beaten green stalls selling early maps, paperbacks, history books, cartoons, prints and postcards. The eastern part of the Latin Quarter has a flavour of the Middle East, thanks to the Institut du Monde Arabe, the Grande Mosquée and the smattering of Middle Eastern restaurants.

Sights

3 place St Germain des Prés, 75006, T 01 43 25 41 71. Mon-Sun 0800-1830. Free. M St Germain des Prés.

The oldest church in Paris, first established by the Merovingian king Childebert in the 6th century with the intention of sheltering relics and royal tombs. The original church was virtually destroyed by the Vikings, and the Romanesque church that replaced it was consecrated by Pope Alexandre III in 1163. The ambulatory is the best-preserved section to have survived from this church. It has a vault with intersecting ribs and nine chapels radiating off it. The church suffered greatly during the French Revolution, and much was done in the 19th century to revive it. Of the 19th-century additions, the most welcome were the biblical frescoes in the nave by Hippolyte Flandrin. Between 1843 and 1861 Flandrin executed a series of scenes from the New Testament above each arch, each followed by the scene from the Old Testament that heralded it. The best is by the approach to the chancel, depicting the carrying of the cross and the entry to Jerusalem. This is very much an active parish church. On Sundays at 1500 free guided visits of the church are given, including the Chapelle Saint Symphorien, whose modern decoration was the work of Pierre Buraglio in 1992.

75006. M St Sulpice.

The café terraces overlooking the lovely place St Sulpice attract all sorts – wilting shoppers, rollerbladers, pigeons – who come to admire Visconti’s grand fountain, the enormous church of St Sulpice and the designer shop windows.

75006. M St Sulpice.

Work on the church began in 1645 and was only completed 135 years later. The church facade was mostly the work of the Italian Servandoni, although he died before it was finished. The south tower remains unfinished to this day, 5 m shorter than the north tower, which gives the building a comical, lopsided look. Inside, the church is spacious but somewhat gloomy. There is a reproduction of the Turin Shroud in two panels on display in the side chapel of St Paul. The Chapelle des Saintes Anges is notable for its frescoes by Delacroix. Organ recitals are often held at St Sulpice, when the ‘congregation’ turn their chairs away from the main altar and its ornamental bronze cross and candlesticks to face the organ case above the front door. The organ is famous for its size – over 6,500 pipes – and its rich sound.

Rue Guynemer and blvd St Michel, 75006. T 01 42 34 20 00. Summer, Mon-Sun 0730-1 hr before sunset, winter, 0815-1 hr before sunset. M Notre-Dame des Champs. RER Luxembourg.

The lovely Luxembourg gardens stretch over 23 ha of the Left Bank. The park’s centrepiece – in front of the Luxembourg Palace – is the octagonal pool. It is surrounded by wide paths, formal flowerbeds and terraces. The eastern side of the garden, accessed by boulevard St Michel, is the location of the Médicis Fountain, the open-air café and the ice-cream sellers, and from April to August there are free daytime musical concerts at the bandstand. In the western section, towards rue Guynemer, there is an adventure playground and a puppet theatre where Punch and Judy reign. Photo exhibitions are often suspended along the garden’s iron railings. Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty here is a smaller model of the one given to the United States in 1885. Honey from the bee-keeping school is sold at the Orangerie in September, where temporary art exhibitions are held in summer.

19 rue de Vaugirard, 75006. T 01 42 34 25 95. Mon-Fri 1000-1900 (until 2230 Mon and Fri), Sat-Sun 1000-2000. €9, concessions €6, children €4, under 8s free. M St-Sulpice. Access via rue de Vaugirard, and not via the Luxembourg gardens.

The Luxembourg Palace, together with the gardens, was built in the 1620s by Salomon de Brosse for Marie de Médicis (Henri IV's widow) and was inspired by her memories of Florence. Home of the French Senate since 1958, it was also used as a prison during the Revolution. The palace’s western end became the first public art gallery in Paris and is still used for temporary exhibitions.

47 rue des Écoles, 75005, T 01 40 46 23 49. Group tours only, Mon-Fri 0930 and 1430. Booking in advance essential. €7. concessions €4.50, under 18s free. M Cluny la Sorbonne, Maubert-Mutualité.

The buildings of the Sorbonne date from the 19th century, but the educational institution itself dates from the 13th century, when Robert de Sorbon set up a college to teach theology to poor students. It was Paris’s first college, and is still its most famous. In the 17th century Cardinal Richelieu rebuilt it on a larger, grander scale to cope with the institution’s success, but almost nothing of his construction survived the wholesale rebuilding that occurred in the 19th century. The college’s resistance to the new liberalism of the 18th century led to its closure during the Revolution, but Napoleon reopened it in 1806. In May 1968 it was at the heart of the uprising that nearly brought down the government of de Gaulle. Today, and in part at least because of those events, it is not in fact the seat of the university as a whole, just a part of it.

Place du Panthéon, 75005, T 01 44 32 18 00. Mon-Sun 0930-1830 (winter 1000-1815). €7, concessions €4.50, under 18s free. Free first Sun of the month Oct-Mar. M Cardinal Lemoine.

The Panthéon, shaped like a Greek cross with a pillared dome, was designed by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot at the behest of Louis XV. It took about 40 years to complete and Soufflot died 10 years before it was finished. It was intended to be a church dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, Sainte Geneviève, but its religious function was short-lived. In 1791, just a year after it was completed, Revolutionaries converted it into a secular Panthéon where the great men of France should be buried and honoured. The bodies of those that have ended up here include Voltaire, Zola, Hugo, Rousseau, French Resistance hero Jean Moulin , Maire Curie and Soufflot himself. Writer Alexandre Dumas’s remains were transferred here in 2002, making him the newest hero to be pantheonized. The frescoes and sculptures of the interior decoration tell stories about French saints and, of course, the Revolution.

Hôtel de Police, 2nd floor, 1 bis rue des Carmes, 75005, T 01 44 41 52 50. Mon-Fri 0900-1700, Sat 1000-1700. Free. M Maubert- Mutualité.

A little-known museum, occupying a single large room in the local police station. The displays seek to tell the history of the Parisian police from the 17th century to the present day. There’s no need to linger over the glass cabinets of police documents and the stiff, waxy mannequins modelling different police uniforms. The most compelling exhibits are also the most grisly and grotesque, starting with a guillotine blade used during the Revolution, blunted from use. Details of other sensational cases follow – including the bombs of early anarchists and a book stained with a victim’s blood.

75006. M St Michel.

One of the capital’s oldest medieval streets, though you might not be able to tell thanks to all the tourists, fast-food cafés and dodgy Greek restaurants. There’s jazz at No. 5 in the Caveau and Ionesco in the theatre at No. 23 . Worth a wander, but steel yourselves against the waiters brandishing laminated menus – the food is even worse than it looks.

1 rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard, 75005, T 01 40 51 38 38. Auditorium T 01 40 51 38 14. Tue-Sun 1000-1800. Museum €4, concessions €3, under 12s free. Library and roof terrace free. M Jussieu, Cardinal Lemoine.

The Arab Institute should be visited as much for the building itself as for its contents. Architect Jean Nouvel’s glass-and-steel creation is both technically inspiring and traditionally Moorish in atmosphere. Like the aperture on a camera, the outside walls of the building are designed to regulate light. The light is filtered by 1,600 photo-sensitive metal shutters that open and close electronically – at least that was the case at the building’s completion in 1987, although now they no longer operate quite as smoothly. The permanent exhibits comprise mostly archaeological finds and Middle Eastern art, including mosaics, ceramics and carpets. There are often temporary exhibitions dedicated to different aspects of Arabic-Islamic civilizations. Renowned Arab musicians perform in an excellent auditorium on Level 2. Should none of the exhibitions sound of interest, skip the collections and take the escalator to the ninth floor roof terrace. There is a great view, and in summer this is a popular place for a mint tea.

57 rue Cuvier, 75005, T 01 40 79 30 00/T 01 40 79 37 94. Garden, Mon-Sun dawn-dusk. Free. Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle, Main Evolution Gallery Wed-Sun 1000-1800 (until 2200 Thu). €7, under 16s €5, under 18s free. Other galleries, Wed-Sun 1000-1700 (summer Sat-Sun 1000-1800). €5, under 16s €3, under 18s free. Ménagerie, summer Mon-Sat 0930-1800, Sun 0930-1830, winter Mon-Sun 0930-1630. €6, under 16s €3.50, under 4s free. M Jussieu, Gare d’Austerlitz.

Created in the 17th century as a medicinal garden for Louis XIII, the garden is 24 ha in size. It contains alpine gardens, two enormous greenhouses of tropical plants, and countless flowerbeds, trees, statues, paths and botanical plants. The Natural History Museum is spread across a number of galleries along the southern side of the garden. The Main Evolution Gallery has a large collection of stuffed mammals, the Palaeontology Gallery holds reconstructed skeletons of prehistoric animals, while other galleries explore mineralogy, plants and insects. There is also a small Ménagerie, or zoo, containing reptiles, birds and monkeys. The zoo dates back to the Revolution, when a new home was needed for the handful of surviving animals from the Versailles royal menagerie.

Place du Puits de l’Ermité, 75005, T 01 45 35 97 33. Tours Sat-Thu 0900-1200, 1400-1800 (closed Muslim holidays). €3, concessions €2.39. Hammam (Turkish baths), women Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat 1000-2100, Fri 1400-2100, men Tue 1400-2100, Sun 1000-2100. Treatments from €38. M Censier-Daubenton, Place Monge.

This 1920s whitewashed complex with its attractive green-tiled minaret is the most important religious centre for the city’s sizeable Muslim community. Visitors can take a tour of the interior gardens and courtyards and admire the wonderful mosaics and the craftsmanship of the carved ceilings and arches. The prayer room is closed to visitors, as are the library and the school. There is also a restaurant serving couscous, including a vegetarian version, and many different lamb taguans, such as with egg and almonds, or olives and lemon. The Hammam has suffered from its own popularity, and can be overcrowded and dirty. Round the back of the mosque is a small, touristic souk and a sprawling café, where people come to relax over thimblefuls of sweet mint tea, pastries and water pipes, either in the garden or a large, beautifully painted chamber.

75005. M Place Monge, Censier-Daubenton.

A little bit touristic perhaps, but rue Mouffetard still feels charmingly French. At its northern end is the place de la Contrescarpe, a sweet square, particularly in summer, when the café tables spill into the sun. At the southern end is the food market, held every morning except Mondays. The stalls are piled high with quality produce, from pungent cheeses to succulent white asparagus, artichokes, truffles, vine tomatoes or cèpes (boletus mushrooms), depending on the season. Beyond the food market is place St Médard and its red-brick church.

Travel Guides | Paris | Sub Regions | Paris - St Germain and the Quartier Latin
		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