The Bestiary of the Latin Quarter

Starting point and access: Cluny-La Sorbonne station.
- Metro - Line 10. Take Exit 1 onto Boulevard Saint-Michel.
- RER - Line B or C, Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station. Take the connection to Metro Line 10, then Exit 1.
- Bus - Lines 21, 27, 38, 47, 63, 75, 86, 87, 96.

The main animal depictions and key features to look out for are highlighted in italics within the description.

(S/E) Upon exiting the metro station, follow Boulevard Saint-Michel to the right. At the traffic lights which you will soon reach, turn left to cross the boulevard and take Rue Serpente. At the next junction, turn right into Rue Hautefeuille. Pass Impasse Hautefeuille on the right (turret on the corner) and take the next right, Rue Francisque Gay.

At the end, rejoin Boulevard Saint-Michel and follow it to the left until you reach the square of the same name (on the left, a monumental fountain flanked by two winged chimeras; above the statue of Saint Michael, two dragons, four lion-headed mascarons and, even higher up, two unidentified feline heads).

(1) Take the sharp left-hand bend and, at the traffic lights, turn right to cross the street. Then turn left, cross Rue Saint-André des Arts on the right-hand side and take the next street on the right, Rue Suger. At the end, turn left into Rue de l’Éperon.

(2) Take the first right, Rue du Jardinet (note, on the corner, two bas-reliefs, one depicting vegetables, bunches of grapes and a goat’s head, the other aquatic animals). Walk to the end of the street for a glimpse, through the railings, of the Cour de Rohan. Retrace your steps back to Rue de l’Éperon.

(2) Follow the street to the right and, shortly afterwards, turn right onto Boulevard Saint-Germain. Note the statue of Danton on the left. At No. 130, note an atlas (a male statue-pillar) and a caryatid (a female statue-pillar) on either side of the gate, and turn right into the Passage du Commerce Saint-André. Go straight ahead along this cobbled passage lined with old shopfronts.

Emerge onto Rue Saint-André des Arts and follow it to the right. Take the second left, Rue des Grands Augustins. Then turn right into Rue de Savoie. At the end, turn left onto Rue Séguier and head towards Quai des Grands Augustins (view of the bell tower of the Sainte-Chapelle and, on the right, Notre-Dame Cathedral).

(3) Then turn right and right again into Rue Git-le-Coeur. Take the first left, Rue de l’Hirondelle (modern mosaic depicting the bird in question). At No. 20, note a bas-relief depicting a salamander. At the end of the street, climb a flight of steps and pass under a porch. Cross the street at the pedestrian crossing and return to Place Saint-Michel and the fountain of the same name.

(1) Cross Boulevard Saint-Michel at the pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead into Rue de la Huchette. At the fork immediately ahead, turn right into Rue de la Harpe. At the crossroads, turn left into Rue Saint-Séverin. Take the first right, Rue des Prêtres Saint-Séverin, and walk past the foot of the church.

(4) At the junction (opposite, a mural in tribute to the writer Maurice Genevoix (1890–1980)), turn left into Rue de la Parcheminerie. At the end, turn right onto Rue Saint-Jacques. At the traffic lights, cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and follow it to the left (at No. 67, lion-headed mascarons above the gateway; three caryatids at No. 80, on the other side). Continue straight ahead and cross Rue Jean de Beauvais on the right-hand side.

Arrive at Place Maubert and turn right into Rue des Carmes. Walk gently uphill with the Panthéon in sight. At the traffic lights, cross Rue des Écoles and follow it to the left. Note the animal-faced mascarons (lion, feline, canine?) at nos. 35, 33, 25 and^23bis, as well as at nos. 18 and 16. You will reach the junction with Rue des Bernardins (on the left, the building on the corner is adorned with two large lion heads, one on the façade facing Rue des Bernardins, the other on the façade facing Rue des Écoles).

(5) Continue a few metres along Rue des Écoles and turn right into Square Paul Langevin, situated at the foot of the former École Polytechnique buildings. Go straight ahead and note, behind the toilets, a ram’s head in high relief on a wall. Then turn left, walk along the wall and pass a statue of François Villon on your left. At a fountain flanked by a double staircase, turn left and leave the square.

You will emerge onto Rue Monge; follow it to the right as it climbs slightly (caryatids after No. 23; at the next corner, two large lion heads). Take the first right, signposted both Rue d’Arras and Rue Jacques-Henri Lartigue. Climb a flight of steps at the bottom of which is a portrait of Alexandre Dumas. Continue along a narrow lane interspersed with steps. Turn left and head back down (note on the left, under the porch of a modern building, a remnant of Philippe Auguste’s city walls). At the bottom, follow Rue du Cardinal Lemoine to the left until you reach the metro station of the same name.

(6) Turn right at the traffic lights to cross the street, then left to cross Rue Monge. Then take Rue des Boulangers diagonally to the right. Walk down and turn left with the street. Cross Rue Linné then Place Jussieu (metro) diagonally to the right (Neo-Renaissance façades at nos. 3, 5 and 7). Continue along Rue de Jussieu, passing the Paris-Sorbonne University buildings on your left. At the end, cross Rue Cuvier.

(7) Enter the Jardin des Plantes and cross a small courtyard. Pass a building with apses on your right and turn left at the foot of a bust of the naturalist Cuvier. Walk almost all the way round an enclosure housing wallabies and pass in front of one of the entrances to the Menagerie. At the junction by a playground (with a statue of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre opposite), turn left. At the next junction, go straight on until you reach the entrance to a large greenhouse on the right-hand side. Then turn left into the garden of the École de Botanique.

Cross the garden (many plant species; access to the Alpine Garden via a small tunnel on the left). At the exit, turn right. At the junction, follow a wide path to the left and, after about 40 metres, follow a wide perpendicular path to the right. Take the second path on the left (signposted “Senteurs de Provence”). Walk straight ahead between the flowerbeds until you reach the statue of Lamarck, which you will approach from behind. Go round the statue to the left and note the various aquatic species on its plinth , including shells and corals.

Turn right to reach the entrance to the Palaeontology Gallery. At the foot of the building is a sculpture of a mammoth. On the building’s façade, various sculpted species, from bottom to top: scallop shells; hermit crabs; reptiles; an eagle holding a lamb in its talons; crustaceans (crayfish?); insects; lions and lionesses. Opposite the entrance, a statue of the animal sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet (1824–1910).

(8) Turn right and then left at the foot of a stegosaurus statue. Walk along the left-hand side of the building and note several animal sculptures, some of which are obscured by vegetation: a cat; a trapped wolf; monkeys; birds; a man facing a crocodile. At the end of the building, continue straight ahead and ignore the signpost directing you to turn right towards the Menagerie. At the entrance to the Cryptogams building, turn right into a wide path. Then take the^second path on the left and pass under the arched trellises. At a junction, go round a small circular flowerbed and continue straight ahead. At the end of the path, first turn left then right.

You will emerge onto the esplanade of the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution building (with lions and eagles carved on the façade); turn right and walk past the statue of Buffon (with a lion’s head at his feet). At the signpost, go straight on, climb a very wide tarmac path and pass between two greenhouses. You will reach the sculpture of the Bear Cub Finder. Immediately after, at a fork, turn left (signposted “Labyrinth”). At the foot of a very large cedar (the Cèdre de Jussieu, planted in 1734), turn sharply left and head uphill. At the top, turn right and walk past a column dedicated to Daubenton.

(9) Take the first path on the left and follow the winding path up to a prominent gazebo, the Gloriette de Buffon. Head back down the same path to the previous junction.

(9) Then turn left. At a fork, turn right, continuing downhill. At a T-junction, go down to the left. At the bottom, turn right and walk slightly downhill to reach the base of a fountain topped by two lion sculptures: on the left, a lion protecting a dog; on the right, a lion sniffing a corpse (a human foot can be seen). Turn left and leave the Jardin des Plantes.

(10) Cross Rue Cuvier to the right and head towards the fountain of the same name, adorned with numerous and highly varied animal sculptures: lion, dog, bear, donkey, bull, monkey, seal, snakes, crocodile, other reptiles, crustaceans, starfish, etc. Turn left to cross Rue Linné, turn left again and then turn right into Rue Lacépède. Continue straight ahead. At the traffic lights, cross Rue Monge and follow it to the right.

Take the first left, Rue Rollin, and climb the steps. At the top, cross Place Benjamin Fondanne and continue along Rue Rollin. At the end, follow Rue du Cardinal Lemoine to the right and immediately turn left at a sharp angle into Rue Thouin. At the next junction, turn left into Rue Mouffetard. At No. 6, you’ll see signs from a former butcher’s shop (bulls, sheep). You’ll come out onto Place de la Contrescarpe.

(11) Take the first right, Rue Blainville. At the junction, turn left into Rue Tournefort. Continue straight ahead and go slightly downhill. At the corner of Rue du Pot de Fer, there is a large tiger’s head on the façade of a pub. At the bottom, on the right at the foot of a restaurant, there is a stone sculpture of a rearing horse. Cross Rue Jean Calvin at the traffic lights and continue straight ahead into Rue Lhomond. After No. 55, turn left into Passage des Postes. At the end, cross Rue Mouffetard and take Passage des Patriarches.

At the end, follow Rue des Patriarches to the right. Turn immediately left into Rue de Mirbel, then right into Rue du Marché des Patriarches. At the end, cross Rue Daubenton and first turn right then left to take Rue Candolle. Then turn right into Square Saint-Médard and cross it, keeping the church on your right. As you leave the square, turn right and head towards the forecourt of Saint-Médard Church (with old animal frescoes on the façade of the building opposite).

(12) With your back to the church entrance, walk up Rue Mouffetard to the right. At the junction, turn left onto Rue de l’Arbalète. Continue straight ahead, keeping the former building of the Institut National Agronomique on your left (under renovation in October 2023).

At the traffic lights, turn right onto Rue Claude Bernard. Cross Rue Vauquelin on the right-hand side and, on the other side, between nos. 45 and 47, note the lion-headed mascarons. Take the next right, Rue Rataud, and walk along the right-hand side of the building housing the École de Physique-Chimie de la ville de Paris. At the end, pass a small triangular square on the right and turn left into Rue Erasme (pedestrianised).

(13) At the end, turn right onto Rue d’Ulm. On a brick wall, there is a large portrait of Marie Curie. At No. 31, look above the entrance door for a sculpture of a Greek soldier holding a rose, with a menacing snake at his feet. Take the first left, Rue Pierre et Marie Curie (Curie Museum on the corner and a photo exhibition on the railings). You’ll come out onto Rue Saint-Jacques; follow it to the right.

Take the second left, Rue Malbranche. At the fork, turn left, still on Rue Malbranche. There are two paths: take either the left-hand one, which is flat and followed by a flight of steps down, or the right-hand one, which slopes gently downwards. At the T-junction, turn right onto Rue Le Goff. Cross Rue Soufflot at the traffic lights (on the right, view of the Panthéon) and continue along Rue Victor Cousin. Cross Rue Cujas and arrive at Place de la Sorbonne, at the foot of the Chapelle Sainte-Ursule (on the right-hand side door, a small lion at the very top).

(14) Continue straight on along Rue de la Sorbonne, keeping the University building of the same name on your right. At the end of the street, cross Rue des Écoles and turn right into Square Samuel Paty. Turn immediately left (sculpture of the Roman she-wolf) and leave the square on the other side to the left.

Cross a street and head for the red gate of the Musée de Cluny (in the frame, bas-reliefs combining human and animal forms). Turn right then enter Square de Cluny on the left. Exit on the other side and follow Boulevard Saint-Germain to the left. You will soon reach Cluny-La Sorbonne metro station (S/E).

To get back home:
- Metro - Line 10.
- RER - Line B or C (access via the metro station).
- Bus - Lines 21, 27, 38, 47, 63, 75, 86, 87, 96.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Numerous bars, restaurants and shops all along the route.

Alternative starting points:
(1) Saint-Michel (line 4; RER B or C)
(2) Odéon (line 10)
(6) Cardinal Lemoine (line 10)
(7) Jussieu (line 10)
(8) Gare d'Austerlitz (line 10; RER C)
(12) Censier-Daubenton (line 7)

Opening hours of the public gardens:
Square Paul Langevin
- Opening: 8.00 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing: 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm depending on the season (see detailed opening hours).
Jardin des Plantes: from 8.00 am to 6.30 pm.
Square Saint-Médard
- Opening times: 9.30 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing times: from 5.45 pm to 9.30 pm depending on the season (see detailed opening hours).
Square Samuel Paty
- Opening: 9.30 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing: from 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm depending on the season (see detailed opening hours).
Square de Cluny
- Opening times: 8.00 am on weekdays; 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing: from 5.45 pm to 9.30 pm depending on the season (see detailed opening hours).

Useful detailed map (at least the one accompanying this description).

Walk completed by the author on 18 October 2023. The author would like to thank fellow hiker jaco948 for their additional observations, which have helped to improve the description of this walk.

The main animal displays and notable sites are mentioned in the description itself, though this is by no means exhaustive. The Jardin des Plantes lends itself to numerous variations, provided you have a good map.

Visiting the churches:
Visits are free during the day, but please refrain from visiting during services.

Opening days and times for other places to visit:
Jardin des Plantes Menagerie: daily (except 25 December), 10.00–18.00.
Palaeontology Gallery: daily (except 25 December,¹ January and¹ May), 10.00–18.00.
Grande Galerie de l’Évolution: every day except Tuesday, 10.00–18.00.
Marie Curie Museum: Wednesday to Saturday (except public holidays and the end-of-year holidays), 1.00 pm–5.00 pm.
Poincaré House Museum: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9.30 am–5.30 pm; Saturday, 10 am–6 pm; closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Cluny Museum: every day except Mondays, 25 December,¹ January and¹ May, 9.30 am–6.15 pm.