Paris Walks Latin Quarter West
This self-guided Latin Quarter Walk explores the area to the west of Boulevard Saint Michel.
Length: 2.3 km (1.4 miles)
Duration: 31 minutes (allow extra time to visit the churches, museum and Panthéon)
Map at the bottom of page of Paris Walks Latin Quarter West
Paris Walks Latin Quarter West is divided into two parts, with a journey on the metro connecting the two sections. We will begin this walk at Place Saint Michel where we have the magnificent fountain of Saint Michel slaying the devil.
1. From Place Saint Michel, walk south along Boulevard Saint Michel. Turn left on Rue du Sommeraud and walk to Place Paul Painlevé . At #6 is the Museum of the Middles Ages (Musée de Cluny). Situated in the former Hotel de Cluny which is both beside and above the ruins of an ancient Roman bath, it houses the 15th and 16th century tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn. Hotel de Cluny, completed in 1480, is only one of two remaining 15th cent private mansions. It was the pied-a-terre of the Cluny abbey in Burgundy.
Montaigne
2.Also located in Place Painlevé on Rue des Ecoles in front of the Sorbonne is a statue of the humanist Michel de Montaigne. Note how the students of the Sorbonne have rubbed his foot for luck and kept it a shiny bronze color. The quote at the base of his statue translates as “Paris had my heart since I was a child. I am French only because of this big city. Big and incomparable in variety. France’s glory and one of the world’s most noble ornaments.”
Auguste Comte
Place de la Sorbonne
3. Turn and walk east back to Rue de la Sorbonne then turn left and go south on Rue de la Sorbonne. Place de la Sorbonne will be on your right. On the corner of Boulevard Saint Michel and Place de la Sorbonne is a statue of the 19th century philosopher and humanist Auguste Comte who believed that sociology was the most important science of all. There is a nice fountain in this square along with bookstores and cafés.
Down Boulevard St-Michel
4. Walk south on Boulevard St Michel, turning left on Rue Cujas. This street will lead you to the Panthéon. The Panthéon is now a mausoleum for the nation’s heroes. It is beautiful inside but be sure you do not miss the crypt!
5. As you are standing in front of the Panthéon you will see the Church of Saint Etienne du Mont on your left. This church houses the tomb of St Geneviève who is the patron saint of Paris. She converted King Clovis to Christianity in the 5th cent and is credited with saving the city from attack by Attila the Hun and his army of 700 000. The Church boasts the only surviving rood screen, an ornate 17th cent organ, and stained glass from the 16th and 17th centuries. Pascal and Racine are buried here.
6. Exiting the church, follow the street between the church and the Panthéon (Rue Clovis) west to Rue Descartes, behind the Panthéon. Turn right and you will find the studio Ernest Hemmingway rented at #39 for a quiet place to work.
Homes of Notable Persons
7. Continue on Rue Descartes to Rue Cardinal Lemoine #67 where mathematician Blaise Pascal died in 1662.
8. #71 rue Cardinal Lemoine is where James Joyce lived while he finished Ulysses. Did you know he could not find a publisher for this book and that Sylvia Beach was the one who actually published it first?
9. At #74 is Hemmingway’s home with his first wife Hadley.
10. Continue on Rue Cardinal Lemoine to Place de la Contrescape where Hemmingway enjoyed the many cafés.
11. Return back down Rue Cardinal Lemoine and turn right on Rue Rollin. Turning left on Rue Monge will bring you to the Roman remains of the Arènes de Lutèce.
12. At the end of the block of Rue Monge is the Metro Cardinal Lemoine. Take the Metro to Cluny-La Sorbonne and you will be very close to where we began this walk.
13. Before you head back, turn right on rue Cardinal Lemoine where between #55 and #63 you find the location of the convent where George Sands was educated and ironically where both her mother and grandmother were imprisoned during the Revolution
Click here for a Paris Latin Quarter Walk West-PDF
Additional sights near the Metro Cluny-La Sorbonne
Length: 560 meters (o.34 miles)
Duration: 8 minutes
14. Exiting the metro, walk down Rue Boutebrie. The street makes a little jog where it becomes Rue de Prêtres St-Séverin. At #1 is the Église Saint Séverin.
15. Exiting the church turn right on Rue Séverin and continue west following Rue Galande when the street bends to the left. Here you will find the Church of Saint Julien le Pauvre. Note the stone street market which dates from the 14th century.
16. Between the church and the Seine you will find Square René Viviani. There is a beautiful view of Notre Dame from this Square and you will also discover the oldest living tree in Paris here.
17. Exiting the Square onto Rue Galande, continue toward the Seine (north) and turn left on Rue de la Bûcherie. At #37 is Shakespeare and Co (the original owned by Sylvia Beach was on 12 rue de l’Odéon from 1921 and remained there through the 20s and 30s but did not reopen after the War)
18. Finish your Latin Quarter Walk by heading east on Rue de la Bûcherie and you will return to Place Saint Michel.
Click here for Paris Latin Quarter Walk West extended-PDF
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