JeanneB

Though I've spent several weeks in Paris, I've never found the "charming" Latin Quarter. I must be missing the right areas.

I know the area around the Odeon/Luxembourg/Rue de Medicis fairly well. We took the bus to the Rue Mouffetard area for Sunday morning market--which we did enjoy. But I feel like there must be a lot of interesting areas we've missed. Is it perhaps because we haven't gone there at night? We enjoy just wandering and browsing shops, street entertainment, parks/monuments, & of course, good food.

There are so many choices of things to do/see, but I've always felt we were short-changing this area. I'd appreciate some suggestions for where to spend an afternoon. What does "Latin Quarter" mean to you?

jody

Lots of interesting churches, St Medard, St Etienne du Mont,and St Julien le Pauvre. The Cluny and the Pantheon are both in the Latin Quarter.Make sure you go into the PAntheo, interesting murals of St Genevieve and St Louis. The crypt and the tombs of the Grands Hommes are worth a short visit.

Ther's a market at Place Maubert on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Shakespeare and Company bookstore is fun for browsing . Lots of interesting shops and cafes in the area too

melissa19

some people like the latin quarter area near the seine, which is the most medieval. tiny narrow winding streets, and two of the oldest churches - st. severin and st. julien-le-pauvre.

however, also lots of greek restaurants/stands and tourists. not that there's anything wrong with that.

last year we saw the Arenes de Lutece, a small roman arena in the 5th. pretty cool.

ira

Hi J,

>We took the bus to the Rue Mouffetard area for Sunday morning market-...<

That's in the Latin Quarter - 5th Arrond.

See www.viamichelin.com

Nikki

The Place Monge market, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings.

The Eric Kayser bakery at 8 and 14, rue Monge.

The Cluny Museum, with its Roman baths, unicorn tapestries, period gardens and occasional wonderful concerts on Fridays at 12:30 and Saturdays at 4:00 by the original instrument ensemble Ultreia. For a schedule of the concerts, go to http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/homes/e...vite_event.htm and click on "L'heure musicale avec Ultréia".

Stroll up the steep rue de la Montagne Ste. Genevieve and explore the area around the Pantheon, the Place Contrescarpe and down the rue Mouffetard.

Around the corner from the bottom of the rue Mouffetard, on rue Daubenton, there is a tiny store filled with French country pottery and crafts called La Tuile a Loup.

Restaurants abound in all varieties. I have especially enjoyed Le Petit Prince de Paris at 12, rue de Lanneau; le Pre Verre at 8, rue Thenard (which has a bargain lunch menu); and les Fetes Galantes at 17, rue de l'ecole polytechnique.

A nice wine bar with occasional live music is les Pipos at 2, rue de l'Ecole Polytechnique.

Diagonally cross the intersection, on the corner of rue Descartes and rue de la Montagne Ste. Genevieve, is the cafe la Methode, also with occasional live music, where I had a nice lunch while watching student and professor types on their way to class and a fellow running up the hill with fresh baguettes to a sandwich place across the street, which had apparently run out of bread.

Travelnut

"charming" may also depend on what time of year you visit. It is difficult to call St Germain/Latin Qtr 'charming' when the sidewalk is so crowded you have to walk in the street.

suze

I enjoyed the Latin Quarter because of all the hussle and bussle. I wouldn't call it particularly "charming" though.

Luisah

Ditto all of the previous posts. My favorites are walks along the Seine, esp. across from Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Company book store, featured in "Before Sunset" the Cluny Museum, and my favorite shop, La Tuile a Loup -- I buy at least one piece of pottery every visit.

JeanneB

La Tuile a Loup...that alone sounds tempting enough to draw me back! These are great responses. We can either head over there on a weekend or a Monday. Maybe Monday, assuming it won't be as crowded.

Thanks, everyone.

Christina

There are various sections of the Latin Qtr that have completely different ambiences to me, so there isn't one thing it means to me. I find the area behind the Pantheon, some streets between it and Mouffetard, small streets with older buildings and some steep streets, etc., older residences, churches, some of the more charming areas to me, but I don't know what people are looking for when they say "charming". A lot of schools are part of the area for me, because I attended the Schola Cantorum music conservatory in that area a couple times for master classes, so that quarter is familiar to me and has some meaning (but that's around Val de Grace).

For example, the idea of monuments, street entertainment and fancy shops is not what I call charming but that's what a lot of people seem to want. I don't find the main drag of St Germain remotely charming, for example, nor a lot of it where tourists like to hang out. Same for the Latin Qtr.

I don't think it has anything to do with not going at night, as rowdy nightlife is only in one area and not what I'd look for when I call an area charming.

The only way to really find out more about places is get a good guidebook that is detailed about the history of an area and its streets, read about them, and do some walking tours. The Michelin Green Guide, for example, as some pretty detailed info on this area. It has walking tours of various parts of it.

carolyn

We had a really good meal at Perraudin on St. Jacques this spring (a Fodor recommendation). We stayed at the Hotel Parc St. Severin, quite close to the two old churches mentioned above, St. Severin and St. Julien de Pouvre.

isabel

I think it's just the feeling you get in the area, the way the streets and buildings look. Except for the Marais, it's got the most medevial buildings, more streeets that were not widened during the Haussman renovations, etc. It's not really any specific places. Although several people have certainly mentioned the main churches, parks, etc. and those are worth visiting.

I love the area near the Seine, around St Severin, St Julien. There are alot of touristy shops and inexpenisve restaurants in that area, and so alot of people don't like it, but that area also has some very beautiful architecture (to me at least).Also further east, between Place Maubert and the Seine. I do agree that time of the year makes a difference. I usually am in Paris in March and the Latin Quarater is wonderful then. I've been in July a few times and it was so crowded as to be almost unpleasant.

JeanneB

Re: The Sunday Place Monge market and the "street fair" on Rue Mouffetard.

I've only been there early Sunday morning. Does it go on through the afternoon?