Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Montagne Sainte-Geneviève

Starting point and access: Sèvres-Babylone metro station.
- Metro - Line 10 or 12. Take Exit 1 onto Rue de Sèvres.

(S) As you exit the metro station, go straight ahead along Rue de Sèvres. Take the^first left, Rue Récamier. At the end, take a short detour around Square Roger Stéphane. Retrace your steps and continue along Rue de Sèvres (on the left as you return from the square).

At the crossroads (formerly Place de la Red Cross; statue of the Centaur on the right), turn left. Cross Rue de Grenelle and enter Rue du Dragon. Take the^first right, Rue Bernard Palissy. At the fork in the road just ahead, turn left onto the same street. At the end, turn left into Rue de Rennes. Cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and reach the forecourt of the church of the same name.

(1) Go round the church and the square on the left and follow Rue de l’Abbaye to the right. At the end, make a zigzag turn first right then left to cross Rue de la Petite Boucherie and then Rue de l’Échaudée. Continue along Rue de Bourbon-le-Château.

At the end, turn left onto Rue de Buci. Cross Rue de Seine and continue along Rue de Buci. Cross Rue Mazarine and continue along Rue Saint-André des Arts.

(2) Between numbers 59 and 61, go under a porch on the right and enter the Passage du Commerce. Go straight on to reach Boulevard Saint-Germain (with the statue of Danton opposite). Turn left and cross the boulevard at the first set of traffic lights. Then turn left into Rue de l’École de Médecine.

At the pediment of the René Descartes University, turn right into Rue Antoine Dubois. Climb the steps, cross Rue Monsieur le Prince and continue along Rue Casimir Delavigne. You will emerge onto Place de l’Odéon; go round the theatre on the right and follow Rue Rotrou. At the traffic lights, cross Rue Vaugirard and enter the Jardin du Luxembourg.

(3) Walk straight ahead along the wide path with the Palais du Sénat on your right. Pass a pond and the Fontaine Médicis on your left and turn right along the path. At the corner of the building, turn left and walk alongside an octagonal pond on your right. After about fifty metres, climb the steps on the left. Pass between the statues of Clémence Isaure (on the left) and the Duchess of Montpensier (on the right), and follow the path straight ahead.

Leave the garden and first turn left then right to cross Boulevard Saint-Michel at the pedestrian crossing. Follow Rue Royer-Collard opposite. Cross Rue Gay-Lussac and turn left into Rue Le Goff. Take the^first right, Rue Malebranche. Climb the steps on the right-hand side and note the beautiful gateways at numbers 15 and 13.

Leave Rue Paillet on your left, cross Rue Saint-Jacques and continue along Rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques. Take the^first left, Rue Clotaire. At the end, cross Place du Panthéon. Go round the monument on the left, pass the statue of Corneille and you will find yourself opposite the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.

(4) Go round the church on the left and, once you reach Place de l’Abbé Basser, turn right into Rue Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. At the end, turn right into Rue Descartes. At the traffic lights, turn left into Rue Clovis. Note the remains of Philippe Auguste’s city wall after No. 5.

At the end, turn right and head up Rue du Cardinal Lemoine (note a pretty private passageway on the left-hand side). Take the^first right, Rue Thouin. At the next junction, turn left into Rue Mouffetard and you will reach the very lively Place de la Contrescarpe. Turn left twice and head back down Rue du Cardinal Lemoine.

Shortly afterwards, turn right into Rue Rollin. At the end, go down a flight of steps. Cross Rue Monge and continue straight ahead into Rue de Navarre. At number 7, turn left into Square des Arènes de Lutèce.

(5) Turn immediately left. Ignore a sharp right-hand turn and head uphill. Climb several steps and then go back down. Cross the terraced steps (high steps) diagonally to the right and look for a narrow staircase on the right that leads back down. At the bottom, turn left and head towards the centre of the ancient arena. Then turn left and look for an exit (red and yellow marker).

You’ll come out onto Rue Monge; follow it to the right. At the traffic lights, cross Rue des Boulangers then Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, and continue along Rue Monge. Take the^first right, Rue d’Arras. At the end, first turn right then left to follow Rue de Poissy. Walk past the Collège des Bernardins on your left. Cross Boulevard Saint-Germain then cross Rue Cochin on the left-hand side.

At the end, cross Quai de la Tournelle at the pedestrian crossing set back to the left. Turn immediately left and, after about thirty metres, turn right towards the river navigation building. Immediately, go down the ramp on the left towards the riverbank (view of the Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame Cathedral).

(6) Turn right and walk along the Seine on your left. Pass under the Pont de la Tournelle, topped by the statue of Sainte-Geneviève. Continue along the quay and pass under the Pont de Sully.

Immediately afterwards, climb the steps on the right. At the top, turn right along the Quai Saint-Bernard. Then turn right onto the Pont de Sully and cross a branch of the Seine.

(7) Turn right into Square Barye. Leave the monument on your left and head to the far end of the garden for a view of the Seine (on the right, there is access to the riverbank but it is a dead end). Retrace your steps, leaving the monument on your left, and exit the square.

Then turn right and cross the second branch of the Seine. Cross Quai Henri IV and continue along the boulevard of the same name. Cross Boulevard Morland and head straight for Sully-Morland metro station (E).

To get back home:
- Metro - Line 7.

Good trainers are sufficient for this urban route.

Toilets and drinking fountains in the public gardens (shown on the map). Bars, restaurants and shops along the route.

A detailed map is required (at the very least the one accompanying this description).

Public park opening hours:
Square Roger Stéphane:
- Opening: 9.30 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 du Luxembourg: depending on the season, opens from 7.30 am to 8.15 am, closes from 4.45 pm to 9.30 pm. See detailed opening hours.
Square des Arènes de Lutèce:
- Opening: 8.00 am on weekdays, 9.00 am on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- Closing: 5.45 pm to 9.30 pm, depending on the season. See detailed opening hours.
Square Barye: open 24 hours a day.

Walk undertaken by the author on 23 November 2018.

From Sèvres-Babylone (S) to Passage du Commerce (2):
- Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church (10th–12th centuries) (1). Built in the Romanesque style, it is one of the oldest churches in Paris.
- In Square Laurent Prache (1), a statue of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) donated to the City of Paris in tribute to Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), who was a friend of the artist.

From the Passage du Commerce (2) to the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (4):
- The Passage du Commerce with its historic establishments, including Le Procope, one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, dating back to 1686.
- Statue of the revolutionary Georges Danton (1759–1794) on the edge of Boulevard Saint-Germain.
- Théâtre de l’Odéon (Théâtre de l’Europe).
- Jardin du Luxembourg (3): the Palais du Sénat, gardens, ponds, statues, etc.
- The Panthéon (late 18th century): “To great men, a grateful nation”.

From the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont (4) to the Port de la Tournelle (6):
- Saint-Étienne-du-Mont Church (late 15th century). The tympanum depicts the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, to whom the church is dedicated. Inside, there is a rood screen (a partition separating the nave from the chancel). A fragment of the ancient sarcophagus of Saint Geneviève is preserved in a large reliquary, in a side chapel of the choir.
- Tower of the former Basilica of Sainte-Geneviève. Now incorporated into the buildings of the Lycée Henri IV, it is visible from the vicinity of the Church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.
- Remains of Philip Augustus’s city wall (late 12th century) between Nos. 1 and 5 on Rue Clovis. In this area, the route follows part of the course of this ancient fortification.
- The Arènes de Lutèce (1st century), which were used for both theatrical performances and gladiatorial combats. Along with the Cluny Baths and the excavations beneath the forecourt of Notre-Dame, these are the only remaining vestiges of Paris’s Gallo-Roman past.
- Collège des Bernardins (13th century), now a cultural centre, conference venue and centre for theological education.

From Port de la Tournelle (6) to Sully-Morland (E):
- View of the Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame, the Seine and the Île Saint-Louis.
- Pont de la Tournelle, which takes its name from a tower in Philippe Auguste’s city walls that once stood here on the left bank. The bridge is topped by a statue of Sainte-Geneviève (patron saint of Paris), a 1928 work by the sculptor Paul Landowski (1875–1961).
- A beautiful view of the Seine from Square Barye.