Traditional haunt of writers and scholars, the vibrant and eclectic Latin Quarter is bohemian Paris at its best. Walk in the footsteps of the iconic writers and poets of the Lost Generation who lived and wrote in Paris, immortalizing their lives here in print. Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and many others found their inspiration here, making Paris of the 1920’s the artistic center of the world. Today you’ll discover cobbled streets, quirky bookshops and lively cafés. Follow our guide below and escape the tourist crowds. We'll show you the real Latin Quarter, and the best way to spend a day exploring it.

First a bit of history, to get us in the mood.

The Quartier Latin – From Clerical Scholars to Existentialist Jazz Clubs 

The French call it the Rentrée, or coming back in again from vacation, that time when summer’s long lazy haze reaches an end and we must return to our regular occupations. In English we focus on the school year starting again, so let’s turn our thoughts to the Latin Quarter, the quartier latin, famous for the Sorbonne University.

It’s not called Latin, for salsa dancing, but rather the language spoken by the students that early on came from all over Europe to study under the masters of theology and gathered in France’s capital. For a student from Palermo to share class notes with another from Hamburg, or chat about the pretty serving wench at the corner tavern, they spoke to each other in the one tongue they shared: Latin, hence the Latin Quarter.

Famous scholars had been attracting young people eager to learn from their prestigious minds for quite some time. It was all informally arranged until such a time as a brawl broke out over wine prices. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. But in the Year of Grace 1200, students taught a brutal lesson in fisticuffs against price gouging to a local innkeeper, objecting to the quality/price ratio of the stuff that filled their flagons. Students are very touchy about their drinking budget. One thing led to another and soon the usual town and gown friction became a proper series of riots. 

When brought to justice the students claimed that as students in theology they were mere clerics and couldn’t be judged by common law : only a religious court could claim that right.  King Philip Augustus (he who built up the Louvre’s tower keep, which you can still visit) and the Pope after him agreed. They granted special legal concessions to the students as well as a charter of incorporation, the official birth certificate of the University of Paris, later known as the Sorbonne.

Generations passed. As the French say, however, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” or “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Those in jerkins who studied theology morphed into those in pullovers studying existentialism. Abelard and Heloise – the Romeo and Juliet of medieval philosophy--  became Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Another thing that stays the same is that scholars who study hard also play hard, whether it was those medieval roustabouts who wanted good wine for their small purses, or the Existentialists centuries later, in the 1930s and 1940s. Instead of seeking wine in taverns, students went for their drinks in the cafés. 

Once the Nazi Occupation of Paris was good and over, students thirsted after all things from the US from jeans to jazz, like a symbol of all that had so long been forbidden. American GIs who stayed on in France, many of them Black, delighted in importing their homegrown musical forms in the clubs that sprang up in the wake of the Liberation. Young people in turn reveled in the wild notes that symbolised the freedom denied them under the boot of the occupier. They let loose with a vengeance. Latin may no longer have been the common language, but the name stuck. “Quartier Latin” became a byword -- even now in the 21st century-- for lingering philosophical and literary discussions over a small table, nursing a tiny coffee for the hours needed to put the world to rights and the nights of exhilarating music that followed.
  

Which brings us to what to do in the Latin Quarter, Paris.

THE BEST THINGS TO DO IN THE LATIN QUARTER

Morning: Breakfast/brunch and books!

Start your day with breakfast or brunch in one of our 2 favorite local hangouts. Both are equally good for brunch or lunch, take your pick or try both!

• Overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens, Treize au Jardin is a charming café which is a perfect spot for a delicious brunch, or lunch with cocktails!
• With its walls and walls of bookshelves shooting up to the café’s high ceilings, the Fourmi Ailée (winged ant!) continues the tradition of the literary and the scholarly that has made its mark on this neighborhood. And it’s also a fantastic place for brunch, lunch (we recommend the quiches) or simply tea and cakes.

Book Buying and Cafés

When in the Latin Quarter, you must of course check out some of the very many bookshops! Here are our recommendations for the best English bookshops in the neighborhood.

• Follow along the  Rue de la Parcheminerie, where parchment was made for the books that were copied and assembled, all by hand. On this street you’ll find the Canadian Abbey Bookshop where you can pick up something good in English. They have a big selection of second hand books.

•  If you don’t find what you’re looking for there you can try the San Francisco Book Company not far beyond or even the world renowned Shakespeare and Company which still shelters writers in residency programs and regularly hosts readings. Be prepared to wait in line here though and no photos inside!

• Don’t miss the spectacular views over Notre Dame from the Square Viviani just by Shakespeare & Co, and check out the oldest tree in Paris, which was planted there in 1650!

• Once you’ve got your book in hand, you can go and read it in either a café or in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens, where Hemingway used to shoot pigeons to bring home to his first wife for dinner. We do not recommend this course of action (the marriage didn’t last). In summer local Parisians take their children to sail traditional wooden boats on the ponds or watch a puppet show, and there are often concerts in the bandstand.

• If you’re more of a mind for the café experience, try the two most famous up the Boulevard Saint Germain, (technically in the Saint Germain-dès-Prés neighborhood, but close enough to warrant the short walk there) where the existential couple par excellence, Sartre and Beauvoir, used to go to warm themselves up through the bitter Parisian winters, Les Deux Magots or Café de Flore. The latter continues to live up to its rich literary heritage with poetry readings and discussions and even a 6000 euro prize awarded to an up and coming novelist, granted each November. Be prepared for the prices though!

Afternoon: History, Culture & Monuments

It’s time to visit some of the wealth of museums and monuments that you can discover when looking for things to do in the  Latin Quarter.

• The Musée du Moyen Âge-Cluny  houses magnificent medieval treasures such as the luminous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which leave everyone speechless (don’t miss these! Too many visitors to Paris do). The museum integrates the old Roman baths that became an archbishop’s residence in the Middle Ages. If you’ve gloried in the breathtaking windows of the Sainte-Chapelle, you can get up close and personal with some of the stained glass panels here, or wander in the medieval-style garden that nestles close to it. 
• Rome is present once again in Les Arènes de Lutèce, a Gallo-Roman amphitheater built in the 1st century that was once the site of gladiator and lion combats.  It’s tucked away on the rue Monge (don’t miss the entrance through a very discreet archway!) and eternal students go there to read or to play pétanque, with some young soccer players at their games as well. 
• Don’t forget the Panthéon. Not to be confused with the one in Rome, this is where luminaries of French history are buried, and the Righteous of Nations honored. You will find everyone from Voltaire to Victor Hugo, to Marie Curie and even, recently, Josephine Baker, renowned for her work in the Resistance. Our insider tip, pay a couple of euros extra and climb to the top of the dome for some of the best views over the city, particularly the ongoing renovations at Notre Dame Cathedral.
• There are also the churches of Saint Germain des Prés, Saint Julien le Pauvre, and Saint Séverin, to get a taste of how architecture morphed from the Romanesque to the later Gothic, along with Saint Etienne du Mont, home to the last remaining rood screen in Paris (you may recognise the steps outside from Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris!)
• And of course don’t miss the iconic Sorbonne University. Founded in 1257 it’s one of the oldest universities in Europe.

Early evening: Apéritif

One cannot live by churches and museums alone, however, mainly because they close come evening. So what to do around 6 or 6.30 pm, when you have cultivated your mind quite enough ? Indulge in that very French pastime of l’Aperitif of course!

• La Rhumerie, a bit beyond the church of Saint Germain des Prés, established in the early 1930s by Joseph Louville of Martinique, bringing Antilles delicacies to brighten the grey skies of Paris. Stop by for an island atmosphere and nibble some accras de morue with an embarrassment of rum riches to choose from. They even have Jazz evenings in the best Saint Germain des Prés tradition!

Dinner Recommendations

(photos copyright Calice and Narro)

We particularly recommend two local restaurants, run by dear friends (tell them Jérôme and Hervé sent you!) 

• Narro is right by the Hemingway House, the three flight ‘cold water walkup’ where he lived with his first wife Hadley from 1922. Not to disappoint, but they do not serve the writer’s fresh Luxembourg pigeon. Rather, you’ll be served delicious French Japanese fusion cuisine, accompanied by a wonderful wine list.
• Calice is at the end of the rue Mouffetard, with its bustling and typical open market that you might want to visit yourself during the daytime, just like Julia Child did in her day. The sister restaurant of Narro, this is a more casual establishment; the menu is created by the same chef and is equally delicious.

• We also like le Coupe Chou, a charming old restaurant made up of 4 houses dating from the 14th-17th centuries and serving traditional French food. 
• For more traditional French cuisine,  we recommend the beautiful art deco Bouillon Racine. Bouillons were originally simple restaurants for local workers that appeared at the end of the 19th century. This is one of only a few of the original ones that remain. We particularly like it for the amazing decor and tasty menu, traditional French food with a twist and good prices.
• Finally, if you want to really dine in style, we recommend you try the offshoot of the famous Tour d’Argent, la Rotisserie de la Tour d’Argent. Located next door to the iconic Parisian restaurant, you’ll taste some of the delights of their fine cuisine without the waiting list and high prices!

Through the night: Jazz Clubs

If jet lag has you ready to continue on into the night, you must go to one of the Jazz clubs that the Latin Quarter is legendary for.

• Caveau de la Huchette The jazz hangout of Liberated Paris, the great names of the art have all played here and continue to do so. Get a taste of what it must have been like, when -- in a state of famine of body and soul --  you came downstairs to enter this little club and heard jazz live for the first time after four years of Nazi rule, the soaring wild notes and improvised masterpieces breaking free of rules and restrictions for pure unbridled energy. You can still put yourself into that headspace here at the Caveau de la Huchette, a don’t miss to top off the Latin Quarter experience. 

This is just an inkling of all that the Latin Quarter has to offer, there is so much more we’d love to share with you ! If you like what you’ve read and delight in the history of the Quartier Latin, you’ll love having Memories France take you on a tour of its secret hideaways and colorful history. Book it today and thrill to the adventures of the artist and student shenanigans across centuries. And be reassured, the wine is uniformly much better than it was in 1200.