Latin Quarter Paris: Cafes, Bookshops & the Left Bank Soul

The Latin Quarter (Quartier Latin) is the intellectual soul of Paris — the Left Bank neighbourhood centred on the Sorbonne University that has been home to philosophers, artists, and revolutionaries since the 13th century, and whose bookshop-lined streets, smoky cafes, and ancient church of Saint-Séverin retain the atmosphere that drew Hemingway, Camus, and Beauvoir to its tabletop discussions. The Boulevard Saint-Michel and Boulevard Saint-Germain form the neighbourhood's main arteries; the network of medieval streets between them — Rue de la Huchette, Rue Saint-Séverin, Rue de la Parcheminerie — contains the most atmospheric streetscape in central Paris. Shakespeare and Company, the legendary English-language bookshop on the Seine opposite Notre-Dame, is the quarter's most visited independent institution. The Panthéon on the hill above houses the remains of Voltaire, Rousseau, Curie, and Hugo in neoclassical grandeur. Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots at the Saint-Germain border are tourist institutions now, but the zinc-bar cafes of Rue Mouffetard and Place de la Contrescarpe retain genuine neighbourhood character. The covered market of Marché des Enfants Rouges (oldest in Paris, 1615) is a 10-minute walk.