The Left Bank II

The sights in the 6th arrondissement:

• Place Saint-Michel: The centerpiece of this square is the Saint Michael fountain, built by Gabriel Davioud in the 1850's. Due to its location in the Latin Quater the area surrounding the square is filled with bookstores, notably Gibert Jeune. Access: M4- St Michele, RER B- Saint Michel-Notre Dame.



• Saint Germain des Prés- A nice Midieval church (6th century). At the time of its construction it was located outside of Paris. The tomb of René Descartes is located in the church as well. The area around Saint Germain was also home to the existentialist movement and was frequented by Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Hemingway and Godard among others. This is also the location of several famous cafés: Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore which were frequented by the aforementioned notables. Access: M4: St-Germain des Prés, M10- Mabillon. http://www.lesdeuxmagots.fr/index.php, http://www.cafe-de-flore.com/



• Saint Sulpice- For those that have read, or seen, the Da Vinci code you will probably recognize this church. Originally built in the 13th century, the stucture that you can visit today dates from the mid-18th century. The church houses an impressive organ with over 100 stops and has a long history of ogran music. In 1727 a gnomon was constructed and placed in the church so that the time of the equinoxes could be predicted and then the date of Easter determined. This is the brass line that runs along the floor of the church to an obelisk. Access: M4- Saint Sulpice.



• Luxembourg Palace and Gardens- Bought by Marie de Medici in 1612, the Palace today houses the French Senat and has a rather nice museum. The palace originally housed the cycle of 24 paintings by Peter Paul Rubens on the life of Marie de Medici, these can now be seen in the Louvre. The gardens are done in the French style and has statues representing greek myth and famous individuals as well as the Medici fountain. Access: RER B- Luxembourg. http://www.museeduluxembourg.fr/, http://senat.fr/visite/jardin/index.html (French only).