From the Latin Quarter to the Cité Universitaire Internationale

Our circular route starts and ends at Maubert-Mutualité metro station (line 10). Take exit 2 onto Place Maubert, which leads onto Boulevard Saint-Germain on the odd-numbered side.

(S/E) At the top of the stairs, go straight on for a few metres and take the first right, Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. Cross Rue des Écoles and continue straight ahead. You’ll arrive at a small square with, on your left, the monumental entrance to the former École Polytechnique. In the centre stands the old Sainte-Geneviève Fountain. Ignore Rue Descartes, which branches off to the left, and turn right into Rue de l’École Polytechnique.

At the next junction, note a beautiful ochre-brick building on the right. Turn left into Rue Valette. Note the large brick school building on the right, then turn into the first street on the left, Rue Laplace. Note the porch of the beautiful building at No. 9. Return to Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève and follow it to the right. You will end up opposite the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, on Place de l’Abbé Basset.

(1) On your left, note an old wine merchant’s shop, with its grilles designed to protect the precious goods from thieves. Turn left onto Rue Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. At the end, follow Rue Descartes to the right to reach Rue Clovis. On the gable end of the building opposite, note the large blue tree. Turn left onto Rue Clovis to find yourself opposite the Collège des Écossais, a school for Scottish pupils in Paris who, under the Treaty of the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, at England’s expense (1295), were granted French nationality. Then turn right and walk up Rue du Cardinal Lemoine.

(2) At the fork in the road, opposite a café, continue left, still on Rue du Cardinal Lemoine. Ignore Rue Rollin on your left to reach Place de la Contrescarpe. Turn right and cross Rue Mouffetard (a few metres to the right on this street, there is an original 18th-century red butcher’s shop front with two gilded oxen) to take Rue Blainville.

Just before the junction with Rue Tournefort (on the left), note, on the right, a beautiful cluster of buildings surrounding a small courtyard. Continue straight ahead, passing a small square with a Wallace Fountain on your right. Just after that, turn left onto Rue Laromiguière. At the next junction, turn left onto Rue Amyot (a few metres to the right, an old country house nestled in a beautiful garden). You will come out onto Rue Tournefort.

(3) Turn right and, at the next junction, follow Rue du Pot de Fer to the left (lots of restaurants). At the end of the street, at the junction with Rue Mouffetard, note, on your right, the Fontaine du Pot de Fer, one of the fourteen fountains commissioned by Marie de Médicis to distribute, on the Left Bank, the surplus water supplied by the Arcueil aqueduct she had built to serve the Palais du Luxembourg.

Turn right and walk down Rue Mouffetard, a very old street as it follows an ancient Gallic road. The houses date from the 17th and 18th centuries. At No. 53, during demolition work in 1938, a hidden treasure of over 3,000 gold coins from the reign of Louis XV was discovered. Note, at No. 69, the wooden sign for the Vieux Chêne and, at No. 81, a 17th-century gate. At the next junction, leave Rue Mouffetard, pass under a portico on the right and head up Rue Calvin. At Place Lucien-Herr, turn left into Rue Lhomond.

(4) At No. 55, turn left into the Passage des Postes to return to Rue Mouffetard and continue down the hill to the right. There are many old houses here and plenty of activity in this bustling shopping district. At the junction with Rue de l’Arbalète, continue straight ahead. Note, at No. 122, on the wall, the beautiful sign “À la bonne source”. Just after that, turn left into Rue Daubenton. Then turn right into Rue de Candolle and, without continuing on to Rue Monge, turn right again into Rue Censier to walk past the Church of Saint-Médard and reach a roundabout with a fountain. Note on the right, at No. 134 on Rue Mouffetard, the beautiful, fully painted façade.

At the roundabout, continue straight ahead onto Rue Édouard Quénu. Cross Rue Claude Bernard and continue straight on along Rue Broca. At no. 17, there is a beautiful contemporary building, and other fine, older buildings from no. 42 onwards. Then pass under Boulevard de Port-Royal, walk past the Caserne de Lourcine and cross Rue Saint-Hippolyte. Shortly afterwards, you will reach Boulevard Arago.

(5) Turn right onto the boulevard and cross it at your convenience, but before reaching Rue de la Glacière. Cross Rue de la Glacière and continue along the boulevard, passing the Cité Fleurie on your left—a complex of 29 artists’ studios built between 1878 and 1880 using materials salvaged from the 1878 World’s Fair. This complex was home to Modigliani, Gauguin, Rodin, and others. It also features some remarkable trees, but is unfortunately closed to the public.

Further on, turn left onto Rue de la Santé and walk past the famous Parisian prison, normally intended to ‘house’ defendants awaiting trial, but also certain political prisoners. At the next junction, turn left onto Rue Léon-Maurice Nordmann. Further on, walk past the Cité des Vignes at No. 152, then the Cité Verte at No. 147, two other artists’ communities. Cross Rue de la Glacière again, then ignore two streets on the right before coming out onto Boulevard Arago once more, which you follow to the right for a few metres.

(5) Turn right onto Rue de Julienne. On the right, in the grounds of Hôpital Broca, note the ruins of the Abbaye des Cordelières, one of the nine great abbeys of Paris in 1674. Turn left onto Rue Pascal to return to Boulevard Arago and follow it to the right. Pass Rue des Cordelières then turn right onto Rue Berbier-du-Mets. This street was built over the course of the River Bièvre, which was covered over in 1912.

Turn immediately left onto Rue des Gobelins. Note the beautiful projecting façades at No. 19 (Mémoire de Paris plaque). Turn right onto Rue Gustave Geffroy to reach the Hôtel de la Reine Blanche. This beautiful building, with its mullioned windows, is the remnant of a larger complex built around 1520.

At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Berbier-du-Mets. On your left is the former Manufacture des Gobelins, with a projection that was once the apse of the chapel. On the right are the Mobilier National’s storage facilities, where all the furniture available to public institutions—such as ministries and embassies—is kept. This building was one of the first to be constructed in reinforced concrete, in 1935. At the end of the street, in a small square, head right towards the entrance to Square René Le Gall.

(6) Enter the square and go down the steps. This is where the Jardins des Gobelins used to be, intended for the factory’s employees, between the Bièvre vive and the Bièvre morte. Head south-west and then turn left onto Place de la Bergère d’Ivry.

Follow Rue Corvisart to the left. When you reach Boulevard Auguste Blanqui, first turn right then left and pass under the elevated metro line (Corvisart station). Continue along the Eugène-Atget pedestrian underpass, which runs beneath a building. Climb the stairs and, at the top, turn left then diagonally right onto Rue Jonas to exit the garden. Cross Rue des Cinq Diamants and continue straight ahead. At the junction, follow Rue Samson to the left for a few metres, then turn right onto Rue Simonet.

(7) At the junction with Rue Bobillot, turn right twice and follow Rue de la Butte aux Cailles. Walk along this street, keeping Place Paul Verlaine on your left. Here you can see a commemorative stele marking the first balloon flight, which ended at this spot after a nine-kilometre journey on 21 November 1783. Continue along Rue de la Butte aux Cailles until the junction with Rue des Cinq Diamants.

(8) Turn right and, immediately afterwards, left into Rue Alphand. Take Passage Sigaud on the left, which soon bends to the right and leads onto Rue Barrault. Follow it to the left and, further on, note Rue Daviel on your right: a short detour along this street allows you to discover, at No. 10, Petite Alsace, or Cité Daviel, a beautiful complex of half-timbered houses dating from 1912. Back on Rue Barrault, continue to the right then take the first street on the left, Rue Michal.

Turn right onto Rue de l’Espérance and follow this street, crossing Rue de la Providence and then Rue Tolbiac to reach Rue Barrault. Follow this street to the left for a few metres before turning right into Rue Auguste Lançon. Cross Rue Boussingault and then Rue des Orchidées; just beyond, you’ll find Cité Florale, created in 1928 after the filling in of a former pond fed by a branch of the Bièvre, and comprising pretty detached houses in various styles with small gardens.

(9) Turn left onto Rue des Orchidées, then right onto Rue des Glycines. Then turn left onto Rue des Iris and right onto Rue des Volubilis. Follow Rue des Glycines again, to the left, where you’ll see a truly beautiful wisteria on the gate of the Villa des Glycines.

Return to Rue Auguste Lançon and follow it to the left. Cross Rue Brillat-Savarin and you’ll reach the junction of Rue de Rungis and Rue de l’Amiral Mouchez. Cross the latter and continue straight ahead onto Rue Liard, which runs alongside the green embankment of the Petite Ceinture on your right. At the end of this street, climb the steps to enter Parc Montsouris. Turn immediately right onto Allée du Lac and continue along the edge of the lake (keep an eye out for birds). At the Fork in the road, head slightly left.

(10) At the next junction with Allée de la Vanne, continue along the path on the left, which continues to skirt the pond. After the statue “La mort du lion”, carry straight on and move away from the pond. At the next Fork in the road, carry straight on again. Then take the paths on the right to cross over the railway line.

On the other side, continue to the right and then, at the Fork in the road, turn left. About fifty metres further on, turn left onto the Sentier du Tunnel. At the Fork in the road just after that, continue to the right to reach the Allée de Montsouris. Continue straight ahead to exit the park at its south-western corner.

(11) Cross Boulevard Jourdan. On the other side, follow the boulevard to the left for about 100 metres.

(12) Enter the Cité Universitaire Internationale via the first entrance on your right. Go straight on and, at the Fork in the road that appears very soon, turn left. At the T-junction, turn left. Then take the first path on the left and then the first path on the right, at the corner of the Maison des Canadiens. Continue straight on, passing the Maison d’Argentine, until you reach the square, near the university canteen.

Continue straight ahead along Avenue Rockfeller, between the US Foundation and the Mexican House. At the next junction, turn right to pass between the Franco-British College and the Spanish College.

(13) Take the first left and follow it until you reach the Swiss Foundation. Go round the House of Norway on the right and leave the House of Brazil on your right. At the next junction, continue to the right between the Danish Foundation and the House of India. Carry on along this path between the House of the National Agronomic Institute and the House of Italy to exit the Cité.

Then head left up Boulevard Jourdan, from where you can continue to admire the façades of the buildings in the Cité Internationale.

(12) Continue along Boulevard Jourdan until you reach the junction with Avenue du Weill, which joins from the left. Cross the boulevard.

(11) Take Avenue de Nansouty opposite and walk along the edge of Parc Montsouris on your right. Ignore five dead-end streets on the left, then enter Square de Montsouris, a quiet street lined with beautiful houses in various styles, but mainly Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

At the end, turn left onto Avenue Reille and walk along the boundary wall of the Montsouris Reservoir, built between 1868 and 1873 as part of a series of new reservoirs intended to gradually improve the water supply for Parisians, as the waters of the Seine were becoming increasingly unfit for consumption due to industrial and urban development upstream of the capital.

At the fork in the road, turn right onto Place Jules Henaffe. At the junction, continue straight ahead along Rue Beaunier. Note a beautiful building on your left at No. 3. At the junction with Rue du Père Corentin, continue straight ahead, still on Rue Beaunier. Further on, you will come to Avenue du Général Leclerc.

(14) Turn right, cross Rue Sarrette on your right and follow Avenue du Général Leclerc to the Alésia roundabout. Go round it on the right, cross Rue d’Alésia and then continue to the right of the church, still on Avenue du Général Leclerc. Carry straight on until you reach Place Denfert-Rochereau and its monumental Lion in memory of National Defence (1870). This lion, created by Auguste Bartholdi, is a plaster model of the Lion of Belfort, one-third of its final size. If you haven’t already done so, cross Avenue du Général Leclerc so that it is on your right.

(15) At the Lion, situated on your right, turn left to walk alongside a park on your left and, at the junction, continue straight on along Rue Froidevaux. At the next junction, continue straight on along Rue Froidevaux, walking alongside the Montparnasse Cemetery on your right. Shortly afterwards, turn right into Rue Émile Richard, then turn right immediately to enter the eastern section of the cemetery.

Further on, turn left onto Avenue Thierry. Further on, at section 28 on your right, note the grave of Auguste Bartholdi (mentioned above). The statue and medallion were created by Rodin. At the end of this avenue, turn left, then left again to leave the cemetery.

Cross Rue Émile Richard and enter the western section of the cemetery opposite. Shortly afterwards, turn right onto Avenue de l’Est and walk past Niki de Saint-Phalle’s L’Oiseau. Turn left onto Avenue du Boulevard. Further on, in section 21, on your right, note the grave of Marguerite Duras.

(16) At an entrance gate, turn left onto Avenue Principale. Cross Avenue du Nord, then, in section 6, on your right, you will find the grave of Eugène Ionesco. Immediately afterwards, cross Allée Lenoir and arrive at the central roundabout.

Go round the roundabout to the left, noting, in section 2, on your left, the grave of Henri Troyat, then, on the other side of Avenue Transversale, in section 1, on your left, the grave of Serge Gainsbourg. Continue round the roundabout and past its statue, the Génie du Sommeil Éternel, cross the Allée Principale, then turn left onto the Avenue Transversale. In section 4, on your left, you will find the grave of Jean Poiret.

Continue straight on until you reach the junction with Avenue de l’Ouest and note, directly ahead of you in Section 15, the grave of the explorer Jules Dumont-d’Urville and his polychrome stone monument. Turn right. Further on, in Section 6, on your right, note the grave of Charles Baudelaire (in the second row). Shortly afterwards, turn right onto Avenue du Nord for a short round trip to Niki de Saint-Phalle’s Chat.

Back on Avenue de l’Ouest, continue to the right, then, at the corner of the cemetery, turn right onto Avenue du Boulevard. In Section 20, look for the graves of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

(16) Turn left to leave the cemetery and emerge onto Boulevard Edgar Quinet. Cross the two lanes of the boulevard and continue straight ahead onto Rue Huyghens. Note, on your left, the beautiful building next to the former Municipal Gymnasium at No. 10. Further on, cross Boulevard Raspail, then first turn left then right to reach Boulevard du Montparnasse. Cross it and continue straight ahead along Rue de la Grande Chaumière.

At the end, turn left onto Rue Notre-Dame des Champs. Ignore Rue Jules Chaplain on your left, then, at the next junction, at the corner of a beautiful building, turn right onto Rue Vavin. Continue straight on until you reach the junction with Rue d’Assas, opposite one of the entrances to the Jardin du Luxembourg.

(17) Enter the garden, walk between a bandstand and the École d’Horticulture building, then turn left to walk alongside this building. At the Fork in the road just after this, veer right and continue straight on until you reach an intersection with a wide path. Cross it and continue straight ahead, between a playground on your right and the statue of Frédéric Chopin on your left. At the next junction, look out for a replica of the Statue of Liberty at the end of the path on your left, then turn right to pass, shortly afterwards, between the theatre and the restaurant.

At the next crossroads, turn left, then take the first path on the right to arrive in front of a large pond. Head diagonally right to pass to the right of the pond and, on the other side, head diagonally left, towards the Palais du Luxembourg. Admire the many statues of queens and Roman goddesses surrounding the pond. Walk between the palace and the pretty water feature (a scene from the story of Acis and Galatea) then continue along the left-hand side of the palace to exit the garden.

(18) Cross Rue de Vaugirard and turn right to walk past the Théâtre de l’Odéon. At the corner of the theatre, turn left into Rue Corneille. When you reach Place de l’Odéon, turn right into Rue Racine. Cross Rue Monsieur le Prince and continue along Rue Racine. When you reach Boulevard Saint-Michel, cross it and turn left. Take the first street on the right, Rue du Sommerard. Walk past the magnificent Cluny Museum (National Museum of the Middle Ages) on your left. Continue along Square Paul Painlevé on your right.

Cross Rue de Cluny and continue straight ahead. Shortly afterwards, cross Rue Saint-Jacques and continue straight ahead again, still on Rue du Sommerard. Cross Rue Thénard and you will reach the junction with Rue Jean de Beauvais. Note the Romanian Orthodox church on your right, then turn left to reach Boulevard Saint-Germain. Follow the boulevard to the right until you reach Maubert-Mutualité metro station (S/E).

In many places, make the most of the ‘Mémoire de Paris’ information points to discover the history of neighbourhoods or monuments.

On the way back, between (18) and (S/E), if you need anything for your favourite activity, hiking, now is the time to make a few purchases as the neighbourhood is home to a famous outdoor retailer!

Follow this link to find out the opening times of the squares and gardens you pass through, which vary depending on the season and whether it is a weekday or weekend.
Other links for the Jardin du Luxembourg, Parc Montsouris and Montparnasse Cemetery.

The École Polytechnique, often referred to as Polytechnique and nicknamed the ‘X’, is a French engineering school founded in 1794 by the National Convention under the name École Centrale des Travaux Publics and militarised in 1804 by Napoleon I. Originally located in Paris, on this walking route between (S) and (2), the school has been in Palaiseau since 1976, at the heart of the Paris-Saclay technology hub. It is a prestigious military science school under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence.

The Church of Saint-Étienne du Mont. Replacing a 13th-century building, it was constructed from the late 15th century onwards and served as the parish church for the residents of the neighbourhood surrounding the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève. After being briefly converted into a temple of filial piety during the French Revolution, it was restored to its role as a parish church in 1801 and has not changed its function since. The shrine of Saint Geneviève, empty of its relics since the French Revolution, is kept there. The church also houses an organ whose origins and case date back to the 1630s.

The Wallace Fountains. Following the siege of Paris and the Paris Commune, around 1870, many aqueducts were destroyed, and the price of water, already high, rose considerably. Many of the poor found themselves unable to obtain it for free. From then on, the temptation of the ‘wine merchants’ was great among the destitute, and it was a moral duty to help them and prevent them from sinking into drunkenness. The urgent need for these ‘four-women’s taverns’ is clearly demonstrated by the speed with which the project was realised. Even today, when water and hygiene are no longer a problem for the vast majority of Parisians, these fountains are often the only free sources of water for people such as the homeless. Rich or poor, all passers-by can quench their thirst there.

La Cité Fleurie. The estate is still reserved for artists. Threatened by developers in the 1980s, who wanted to build on the site, it was saved by protests that led to its listing as a Historic Monument.

The Bièvre once flowed into the Seine in Paris (near Austerlitz station) after a 33-kilometre course through the departments of Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne and Paris. Since 1912, the river, which was until then Paris’s second-largest river and flowed through the 13th and 5th arrondissements, has been covered along its entire urban course.

La Butte-aux-Cailles was originally a hill covered in meadows and woods, dotted with several windmills and rising 62 metres above the Bièvre. In the 17th century, shell limestone was mined here, but the numerous industrial activities using water from the Bièvre—such as dye works, tanneries, laundries, leather workshops, and even butcher’s shops—made this neighbourhood unsanitary. Later, the development projects of the Second Empire spared this outlying neighbourhood, which remained a village from the previous century right in the heart of Paris.

La Cité Florale. La Cité Florale was built in 1928 on a triangular plot, a former meadow regularly flooded by the Bièvre. This feature meant it could not accommodate high-rise buildings: the neighbourhood was therefore entirely developed with small houses. The appearance of this charming neighbourhood is unusual, as it is surrounded by much more modern buildings.

The Petite Ceinture. The Petite Ceinture line in Paris is a former 32-kilometre-long double-track railway line that ran around Paris inside the boulevards des Maréchaux. Abandoned by Parisians due to growing competition from the metro, the line has been closed to passenger traffic for most of its route since 23 July 1934.

Montsouris Park. This English-style park, laid out at the end of the 19th century, covers 15 hectares. It is planted with numerous plant species and is home to a large number of bird species. It was conceived during the Second Empire as part of a project aimed at providing Parisians with green spaces at the four cardinal points of Paris: the Bois de Boulogne to the west, the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont to the north, the Bois de Vincennes to the east, and the Parc Montsouris to the south.

The Cité Universitaire Internationale. This campus accommodates nearly 6,000 students, researchers, artists and elite athletes from all over the world across its 40 buildings. The project for a residence for students from all over the world was launched in the early 1920s, in response to the heightened nationalism following the First World War. By 1927, half of the complex had already been built, funded by patrons, industrialists and foreign governments. In less than 15 years, 19 houses were built, in styles reflecting the architectural eclecticism of the interwar period and the policy of cultural mixing pursued at the Cité. On the eve of the war, the number of residents stood at 2,400, representing 52 nationalities.

Montparnasse Cemetery. Feel free to tailor your walking route through this cemetery to suit the famous figures you admire. To explore this place in your own way, you can use this link.

The Luxembourg Gardens. Created in 1612 at the request of Marie de Médicis to complement the Luxembourg Palace, it underwent restoration led by the architect Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin during the First Empire and now belongs to the Senate. It covers 23 hectares, adorned with flowerbeds and sculptures. It is a favourite haunt of Parisians, who affectionately call it ‘Le Luco’. The garden is home to 106 statues, including: The Greek Actor, The Scream, The Writer, The Dancing Faun, A Herd of Deer Listening to the Approach, the Monument to Antoine Watteau, and the series of twenty statues known as the Queens of France and Illustrious Women.

The Cluny Museum. The buildings housed the abbots of the Cluny Order in Burgundy from the 13th century onwards. From the 17th century, the mansion served as a nunciature for the papal legates. In the 18th century, Nicolas-Léger Moutard, the Queen’s printer and bookseller from 1774 to 1792, set up his printing presses in the chapel. During the Revolution, the mansion was sold as national property and underwent alterations and damage until its acquisition by the State in 1843. In 1833, Alexandre Du Sommerard, a senior councillor at the Court of Auditors and a passionate enthusiast of the Middle Ages, moved in, and rented out a few rooms to a printer to house his collection of artefacts. In 1843, the collection was purchased by the State, which appointed his son Edmond Du Sommerard as the first director of the Musée des Thermes and the Hôtel de Cluny.