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Travel: Paris - Latin Quarter Oct 5th/ 2019

Place : Paris - Latin Quarter

Date: Oct' 5h/ 2019


Jardines Plantes - Botanical Garden

For Garden lovers, a morning walk through the “Garden of Plants” , is a sheer pleasure, even under an umbrella, on a drizzly day like it was most of today.


Created in 1635 as a medicinal garden for Louis XIII, the Garden has been used throughout the centuries by botanists, doctors and pharmacists. When the French Revolution ended, it became a botanical garden, and in 1793 the Natural History Museum opened there, to which a Ménagerie, Labyrinth, Historic trees, Rose garden, Alpine garden, and a Zoo were all added.

Wandering throughout the quarter's attractive streets and alleys, raising ones gaze way up and spectating the beautiful ornamented and buildings, decorated with its elegant rod-iron balconies and slashed roof tops, is a delightful surprising experience, as the very unexpected may be revealed.


Salvador Dali's Sun-dial on Rue Saint-Jacques


On the side of a non remarkable building at 27 Rue Saint-Jacques

(a little way behind the famous Shakespeare & Co bookstore is a Sun-Dial created by Salvador Dali in 1968. It depicts the head of a woman in the shape of the scallop shell.

A stroll away from the Seine toward the West, is so much more pleasurable and civil, then the one throughout the streets closer to the river, where a whirlpool commotion created by the tsunami of the visiting tourists, clogs the promenade and the other nearby streets across from the Notre Dame.

The restaurants and cafes, there are endlessly occupied, all the way through St Germain and St Michell Boulevards.

And especially tonight, it seemed that the metropolis annual celebration of Saturday's "White Night” (nuit blanche), had purged out all its inhabitants and visitors into the streets, for extra exterior night action.

A popular pilgrimage points of interest which attracts all the by -passers are:

Facing the Seine, attached to the back of the church The Place Saint-Michel is known as the site of the neo-renascence style "Fontaine Saint-Michel" - one of the largest in Paris in which was constructed by Gabriel Davioud in 1855-60. Originally, the fountain's central statue was supposed to depict Napoleon Bonaparte, but after criticism from opponents of Napoleon III; it was finally decided that the statue would be an image of Saint Michael, the Archangel with two dragons that spout water into the fountain and figures of the 4 classical cardinal virtues.

Another beautiful spot to visit, is the Palace de la Sorbonne Sorbonne Square

It was opened on 1639 and is dominated by the impressive Sorbonne chapel, which in front of it, a line up of silver lindens trees and a fountain, can be admired, right off St Michel boulevard,

In 2000 a preventive archaeological excavation discovered the ruins of two I c houses, a II c cellar and a short section of a roman road, before renovation work was done on the square.


The Chapel of Sainte Ursule de la Sorbonne or the Sorbonne Chapel, is a Roman Catholic chapel, was rebuilt in the XVII century by order of Cardinal Richelieu.

On the way to dinner we walked through this charming bustley Passage, off St German Blv. full of popular restaurants.



In the 1730s, a square passage was opened to connect rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain (now rue de l'Ancienne-Comedie ) and rue Saint-Andre-des-Arts

Food Bites

One of the famous and oldest cafes in Paris since 1686, is in the heart of St German, on rue de l'Ancienne Comedie but can be also accessed from the passage is:

The greatest writers and intellectuals of the 18th century - Diderot, Voltaire, Montesquieu and d'Alembert, all frequented it.

More of its history


We had plans dining at "Procope", but on another night.

Tonight we had the pleasure of dining with our dear Parisian friend -Ora at another very good restaurant in the same area named:

"Fish La Boissonnerie" on rue de Seine (two ned by the same owner of another recommended restaurant across from it, called "Semilla")


The Latin Quarter is famous for bars and cabarets and is home to Paradis Latin, one of the oldest cabarets in Paris, built in 1803 on the orders of none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. It burned down in 1870, but was rebuilt in 1887-1889 by Mr. Eiffel.


By the time we ended diner and strolled back through the crowded

streets, full of much more awake souls, then we were at this late hour of the night, we gave up on the "White Night" attractions, taking place away, in other parts of the city, and instead had an early starry night of sleep, at our hotel.


To be continued...

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