Zigzag walking route along Boulevard Saint-Germain – Part I Latin Quarter

Boulevard Saint-Germain is one of the most famous avenues in Paris, and it crosses three arrondissements (The Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain district וSeventh District). To me, the boulevard itself is not particularly interesting, but if you walk along it and each time you deviate a little north or south, you will discover quite a few interesting places, most of which are unknown to tourists. The purpose of this itinerary is to help you discover those places, while traveling at your leisure.

Since this route is quite long, I decided to divide it into two parts. The first part will go through the Latin Quarter (the 5th arrondissement) and will start at the beginning of Boulevard Saint-Germain and end at Boulevard Saint-Michel. The second part will start at the same point where the tour in the Latin Quarter ended and will end deep in the Saint-Germain Quarter.

Warm recommendation: Before you start this trip, I highly recommend you read the article about The history of the Latin Quarter, because it contains quite a bit of information that will help you understand everything you will see during your trip, and thus enhance it.

One last thing, before we begin, I highly recommend doing this route in the morning on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. Why? You'll understand later in the article...

How do you get to the starting point of the route?

The route starts at the beginning of Boulevard Saint-Germain and is perfect for walkers who have just finished visiting theIsle Saint Louis Or for those who live in the Latin Quarter and can get there on foot.

Everyone else is welcome to go to the Sully Morland metro station (line 7), exit the station, cross the Pont de Sully bridge and walk within a few minutes to the beginning of Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Another option, for those living in the Saint-Germain district or the west of the city, is to take metro line 10 and get off at Jussieu station. From there, walk along Rue Jussieu and turn right onto Rue des Fossés Saint Bernard until you reach Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Have you reached the beginning of the boulevard? Great! Let's get going 🙂

The itinerary along Boulevard Saint-Germain

Route map

Below you will find a map of the places that will appear on this itinerary. You can also find hotels in the area (this is one of the most central places in Paris so it is definitely worth staying there). If you don't see all the attractions, you are welcome to zoom out or open the map in a separate window.

Open the map in a separate window

The only surviving medieval college

Once you reach the starting point of Boulevard Saint-Germain, start walking west and turn left onto Rue Poissy. This street was created during the 18th century and was originally named after Antoine de Sartine (Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de Sartine, comte d'Alby 1729-1801), one of the legendary commanders of the Paris police, whom we will meet later in the tour.

Because a calf market was held there and because the best calves came from the town of Poissy, located about 24 km from Paris, it was decided at the beginning of the 19th century to name the street after that town.

When you reach number 20, you will see a beautiful Gothic building. It is the only surviving building of the original buildings that were part of theUniversity of Paris In the Middle Ages.

Built in the 13th century, it was originally intended to train priests for the Clairveaux Abbey. Throughout its history, the building has survived many crises, from the 1792 priest massacre, part of which took place there, to the destruction of the college church when the Boulevard Saint-Germain was paved.

In 2001, the Archbishop of Paris, the converted Jew Jean-Marie Lustiger (1926-2007), decided to renovate the building and turn it into a spiritual center open to the public. Incidentally, Cardinal Lustiger's original name was Lustig, and his relatives owned an electrical store called Lustig in the ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The Church of the Far Right in France

After visiting the Collège de Bernardin, continue on and turn right on Rue Saint Victor and continue until the intersection with Rue des Bernardins. There you will find a charming 17th-century church, which many tourists miss, which is a shame.

The church is called Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet, and it was built in the 17th century. One of the best reasons to visit is for the several paintings by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), one of the greatest painters of the Louis XIV era, and the man responsible for the interior design of Palace of Versailles (and also that of Wo La Viscount).

Charles LeBaron and his mother are buried here, side by side, and the tombstone he built in honor of his mother, in which they are seen emerging from the grave, is one of the most beautiful and moving tombstones I have ever seen, and for that alone it is worth visiting this church.

The Square of Horrors that became a culinary center

After you have finished visiting the Church of Saint-Nicolas de Chardonnay, you are welcome to walk along Rue Monge until you reach Place Maubert.

This square is named after one of the important teachers of the University of Paris during the Middle Ages, whose name was Master Albert or in French Maître Albert (lived between 1200 and 1280). Master Albert, whose name over the years became Maubert, taught here in the 13th century under the open sky, but from then on the place deteriorated.

First, the Bièvre River ran through here, where tanners dumped their chemicals and turned it into a steamy sewer (that's why I call it the Bièvre). Second, during the 16th century, the square became a favorite place for the execution of Protestants, who were burned alive here after undergoing terrible torture.

And now, as a wheel turns (and no, I don't mean the wheel on which people used to be broken by being beaten with a metal rod), today this square has become an important culinary center.

First, there is a food market there 3 times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) between 07:00 AM and 13:30 PM (on Saturday it closes at 14:30 PM) which is why I recommend doing this route on those days. However, if you come on other days or at other times, you won't go hungry.

The patisserie is open every day, except Mondays, from 06:00 AM to 20:00 PM (on Sunday it closes at 18:00 PM).

The next place you can find there is Laurent Dubois' cheese shop, considered the best in Paris.

Personally, I don't know if it's such a good idea to walk around the streets of Paris with a cheese you just bought, so I wouldn't recommend buying the cheese right away, but returning to the store later (by the way, they also have a branch inMarais).

If you decide to come shop there, keep in mind that the place is open every day, except Monday, between 08:00 AM and 20:00 PM (on Sunday it closes at 13:00 PM).

Want to see the original guillotine blade?

After you've eaten a croissant and tasted some cheese, let me recommend a special museum that is not known to the general public. On the side of Place Maubert you can find Montagne Ste Geneviève Street and there at number 4 you will find a particularly ugly police station, which is responsible for the fifth and sixth arrondissements.

Ignore the ugliness, go inside, take the elevator and you will arrive straight to the Police Museum. This museum was founded in 1909 by Louis Lépine (1846-1933), who twice served as the chief of police of Paris. Here you will find a permanent exhibition dealing with the history of the French police from the 17th to the XNUMXst century, as well as temporary exhibitions. Here is a short video that shows some of what you will see there:

Among the exhibits you'll see there are 18th-century police uniforms, portraits of famous criminals, and the original blade of Paris' first guillotine. True, the last time I visited (and that was a long time ago) all the information was in French, but even if you don't speak the language, it's worth going in for a few minutes, as it's a free museum.

The place is open Tuesday through Friday from 09:30 AM to 17:00 PM (on Thursday the place closes at 19:00 PM). Closed Saturday through Monday.

A great poison lab and patisserie with a view of Notre Dame

After visiting the Police Museum, return to Place Maubert, cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and go to Rue de Bièvre. Before entering the street you will find a very nice restaurant called Bistrot des Lettres, where you can have a good lunch, if you are hungry (you are welcome to enter theRecommended restaurants page on my website to read more about it).

Enter Rue de Bièvre and start walking towards the Seine. This used to be the toilets of the University of Paris and the smell was appropriate, but all that is history and now it is a prestigious street, partly thanks to the fact that François Mitterrand, President of France, lived at number 22. France Between the years 1981-1995.

Continue until you reach Quai de la Tournelle and turn left. Walk along the river and you will find that very quickly the name of the quay changes to Quai de Montebello and there, at number 11, you will find one of my favorite patisseries in Paris, called A. Lacroix.

This patisserie is the fruit of the love between a French pastry chef named Arnaud Lacroix and an American businesswoman of Japanese descent who arrived in Paris about a decade ago. Their love story created this patisserie, and I got to visit it when the place was still completely unknown. Since then, this patisserie has become very famous for its beautiful cakes, such as the apple cake that, to the naked eye, looks for a moment like a real apple. If you would like to read more about the patisserie, you are welcome to visitThis articleThe place is open every day from 10:00 to 19:00.

Why did the Marquise want to murder her family and how did this whole story end? You will find the answer in the article The Fatal Marquise.

The auditorium where bodies were dissected

From Impasse Maubert, take a few steps back and turn left onto Rue de la Bûcherie, one of the oldest streets in Paris. Many people mistakenly think that the street is named after the butchers (in French, Boucher), but this street is actually named after a port that once stood here and where today logs are shipped using the Seine from the places where the wood was cut.

After learning this important historical detail, head to number 15 and you will discover a magnificent building.

By the way, this is a great opportunity to offer you Start following me on TikTok, and enjoy many more videos like this.

After you have visited the place, go outside and see that Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne (16-1734) lived at number 1806 until the day he died.

This name doesn't mean much to most people, but he was a fascinating man and one of the first journalists in Paris. Retif would walk the streets of Paris every day (especially in the less sympathetic neighborhoods of the city) and collect stories about crime, prostitution, etc. At the end of the day, he would go to the salons of Paris' high society and tell them what was happening in their city. In addition, he wrote books about Paris and several erotic novels, and he even claimed that he had more "conquests" than the famous Casanova, his contemporary.

That same Retif is the main character of one of my favorite French films. The name of the film is La nuit de Varennes and it stars, among others, Marcello Mastroianni, in one of his last film roles. The film follows Retif de la Breton, who “smells” that Louis XVI fled Paris with his family and there is a fascinating journalistic story here. He sets out on a journey in search of the royal family and meets quite a few colorful characters along the way.

Here is a clip from the film in which Retief de la Breton and Casanova are asked to share their experience in “conquering” the opposite sex with one of the carriage passengers.

I'm pretty sure that after you watch this short video, you'll want to run around looking for the film on the internet or VOD.

The saint who murdered his father and mother

Continue on Rue de la Bûcherie until you reach Rue Lagrange. On your right is Notre Dame, but it belongs toA completely different route So continue left and you will reach Rue du Fouarre. This street is named after the straw bales on which the students sat in the street while they listened to the lecturer.

Continue down the street and turn right onto Rue Galande, where at number 42 you will discover a cinema with a sort of ancient relief on it. This is the oldest street sign in Paris.

The sign, which dates back to the 14th century, tells the story of Saint Julien, after whom the street was once named. According to legend, Julien was asked to ferry a leper beggar across the river in his boat for free. He agreed to do this task, and then halfway through the journey, the beggar suddenly turned into Jesus, forgiving him of his sins, which is exactly what we see on this sign.

And what were the sins of Saint Julien? It all began when, while hunting in the forest, he met a deer, who told him that he would kill his father and mother. In order to avoid this, he ran away from home and later met someone who would become his wife, and it seemed that the prophecy would not come true. However, his father and mother did not give up on finding him and one day they managed to find the house where he lived with his wife.

The woman was very happy to hear that Julien's father and mother had found him and since they were both very tired she offered them to sleep in her and her partner's bed while she went out to get food from the market. While his wife was not home, Julien returned home and found his father and mother in bed. He thought it was his wife sleeping with a strange man so he drew his sword and killed them. Surprisingly, this story does not appear on this street sign…

A chanson club and a bookstore that you have to stand in line for

Continue on Rue Galande to number 56, where the restaurant is located. Aux Trois MailletzHere you can have dinner while listening to a singer singing chansons accompanied by a piano.

Retrace your steps a little to Rue Saint Julien and walk towards the Notre Dame Church. On your right you will find the Saint Julien Le Pauvre Church, one of the oldest churches in Paris, next to Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés And Saint Pierre, whoIn the Montmartre district.

A chapel stood here as early as the 6th century AD, but it was destroyed by the Vikings during the 9th century. In its place, the church you see here was built during the 12th and 13th centuries, and since 1889, it has been a place of worship for the Orthodox Christian community.

It is not always easy to enter the church on a daily basis, but occasionally there may be concerts open to the public. If you would like to see what concerts will be on during your visit to Paris, please click here. This linkIf you would like to hear one of the concerts held there in the past and see what the entrance looks like from the inside, you are welcome to take a look at this video.

Next to the church you will discover the Square René-Viviani, a magical garden with one of the oldest trees in Paris. It is a great place to stop for a moment, sit down and enjoy the view of Notre Dame. If you come here in December, you will be happy to know that there is also a Christmas market Small (or at least it has been in recent years).

After a short while, leave the garden and head to the Rue de la Bûcherie, which we remember well, which is located west of the garden. Walk a little further and you will see Wallace Fountain And next to it is a store with a long line of Americans (mostly), waiting patiently to enter.

No, they don't give out free gold here (or croissants), this is the old bookstore Shakespeare & Company, created about a century ago by Sylvia Beach (1887-1962). The store opened in the 6th arrondissement and quickly attracted the best Anglo-Saxon writers who lived in Paris during the 20s and 30s, including Hemingway and the Irish writer James Joyce, whose book Ulysses Sylvia Beach edited and published.

The shop in the Saint-Germain district was closed by the Nazis in 1941 and Sylvia Beach even spent about 6 months in prison. After France was liberated, Sylvia Beach was already too ill and old to open the shop, but that was not the end of the story. Shakespeare & Company.

In 1951, another American named George Whitman (1913-2011) opened a shop selling English-language books at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie and called it Le Mistral. George Whitman knew Sylvia Beach and became a good friend of hers, so much so that he named her daughter Sylvia after her. About two years after Sylvia Beach's death, George Whitman decided to name his bookstore after her legendary shop, and also in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, and the store is still called that today.

The store has been known for decades, but in recent years, a number of American social media influencers have discovered the place, and since then, swarms of tourists have been lining up every day to enter the store. How many of them also buy the books that are there? I don't know.

Despite the queue, I still love this place and that's why every time I come to Paris I visit there at least once. If you want to visit a great store that sells books in English and French, without a queue and without network influencers, let me recommend you a store called Galignani, located on Rivoli Street, opposite theTuileries Gardens.

The Jazz Hall That Was a Revolutionary Courthouse

After you've visited Shakespeare & Company (and maybe bought a book or two), continue on Rue de la Bûcherie and turn north onto Rue de Petit Pont and then right onto Rue Saint Severin. You should now see the entrance to the Saint Severin Church and I highly recommend going in.

This church was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and is named after Saint Severinus, who covered King Clovis I (the first king of France) with his coat while he was ill. Another saint associated with this church is Saint Martin, who is known to have cut off part of his cloak to cover a poor man who was suffering from the cold weather. Saint Martin is known as the patron saint of travelers, so in the past, people returning from a long journey would hang horse hooves here.

Return to Rue Saint Severin and continue a little further until you reach Rue Xavier Privas. Turn right on the street and walk until you reach Rue de la Huchette.

This is one of the mythological streets of Paris, and already in the Middle Ages it was known for the grilled meat that was sold there (therefore, it can be said that to a certain extent the shawarmas found on the street and neighboring streets are a market of spiritual successors to the meat that was grilled there).

Later, the place became less about grilled meats and more about carnal lust, as the street became known for the three mythological brothels that stood there. However, beyond all of this, there are two cultural institutions located on the street that are really worth getting to know, and they are not related to either food or prostitution.

The first place is at number 5, and its name is Caveau de la HuchetteToday it is a very famous jazz club, but this place has a long and glorious history that begins in the 17th century.

In 1614, an esoteric order called the Knights of the Rosy Cross was founded and they found a basement in Rue de la Huchette to hold their secret meetings. In 1772, the place became a secret club of the Freemasons and about twenty years later, the basement became the seat of a revolutionary club, which quickly became a tribunal that sent people to the guillotine. That is why you will find busts of Robespierre and other revolutionaries here.

Finally, in the 1950s, the place became a famous jazz club where you could not only listen to jazz music but also dance to it. This is what it looks like today:

The second place on Rue de la Huchette, which still has cultural importance today, is Theatre of the Huchette, located at number 23. This theater hosted some of the most famous plays by one of the greatest playwrights of the absurd, Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), including “The Bald Singer.”

The theater is also open these days and if you are a speaker French And fans of the theater of the absurd, you are more than welcome to go to the link I provided and order tickets for one of the plays being shown there.

Everyone else is welcome to continue on Rue de la Huchette until you reach Boulevard Saint-Michel, where our tour ends and begins. The trip to the 6th arrondissement, who also continues to walk along the Boulevard Saint-Germain in a sort of “zig-zag.”

Looking for a hotel or apartment not far from Boulevard Saint-Germain?

This is actually a great idea, because the Boulevard Saint-Germain, which forms the backbone of this trip, is a very lively and central area of ​​Paris.

If you are a couple or a small family, let me recommend you Audi's apartment on Rue des AnglaisThis apartment is located a very short distance from Boulevard Saint-Germain, it is very comfortable, clean and equipped with everything you need. On top of that, the apartment belongs to an Israeli guy named Udi, which is definitely important these days.

If the apartment is not available, enter5th arrondissement hotels page OrThe apartment page in the 5th district And you can find some great hotels and apartments there, located not far from Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Looking for more information about Paris?

Let me recommend you go toMy Paris Guide, which contains quite a few recommendations, travel itineraries, and much more.