What is the cancellation policy for this tour?

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

How long does this tour take?

This tour lasts approximately 2 hours and a half.

Literary Latin Quarter

Q: Where does this tour start?

This tour starts at: We will meet at the café "La Contrescarpe"—located directly on Place de la Contrescarpe—where we will enjoy a coffee before setting out on our walking tour..

★★★★★ 5.0

2 hours and a half

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Overview

This tour is an immersion in the literary and philosophical past of Paris’s celebrated Latin Quarter as well as the history of the neighbourhood that goes back to Gallo-Roman times. Your guide will be a local expert—a graduate of The Sorbonne in philosophy who also lives in the neighbourhood.

In the space of a short time, key periods from the 2000-year history of the Latin Quarter come alive. It all starts with a lively exchange over coffee: you will meet with your guide at a charming café on an Ancient Roman road just steps away from where René Descartes would live on his stays in Paris.

After a short introduction and some time to get to know one another, guests set out to explore the hill that includes the Panthéon, The Sorbonne and the childhood haunts of Jean-Paul Sartre, the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and more. Prepare to be completely immersed in the history of Paris!

Gallery

What's Included

✓ Included

Coffee and/or Tea

Itinerary

Stop 1

Our visit will start along the Rue Mouffetard, where Hemingway's A Moveable Feast opens. We'll make our way to the Pantheon and the steps where Owen Wilson is whisked away into the past in A Midnight in Paris. Also the apartment where Sartre lived as a child, The Sorbonne, the location of the original Shakespeare & Co and Saint-Germain-des-Près...

Stop 2

We will see the Panthéon from the outside as we pass across the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. Originally designed as the Church of Saint Genevieve, it became almost immediately a burial site for notable French citizens.

Stop 3

As a graduate of The Sorbonne, your guide knows the institution well and you will learn about the history of foundation of the University of Paris in the course of this tour.

Stop 4

We finish our tour at the onetime Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Once an important place of learning and centre of religious and civic life for the neighbourhood, you will also see the second of Jean-Paul Sartre's homes in Paris. His first will appear earlier in the tour.

Stop 5

Around the Church of St Etienne, we have a number of sites that we will see. If the church is open, we may be able to go in, but this is not guaranteed.

Stop 6

Near Odéon, we will pass by the original Shakespeare and Company, the onetime home of Thomas Paine, one of the first cafés of Paris...

Meeting & End Point

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Meeting Point

We will meet at the café "La Contrescarpe"—located directly on Place de la Contrescarpe—where we will enjoy a coffee before setting out on our walking tour.