Quartier Latin and Montparnasse

After lunch, Sophie took us on a walking tour of Le Quartier Latin, the “Latin Quarter”, and Montparnasse. Le Quartier Latin is the student center of Paris, as it is the home to the Sorbonne and several other French universities. Its name is derived from the fact that when the universities were founded in 13th century, studies were conducted in Latin. The quarter also contains numerous libraries, bookstores, and churches.  We visited several churches, and learned about the differences in style between Roman and Gothic buildings. The most obvious architectural difference is in the arching of the roofs of churches –  Roman churches have curved ceiling arches, while those in Gothic churches are pointed. Roman churches also tend to be less ornate and rather simplistic in style.

A twisting column in Saint Séverin, a church in the Quartier Latin.

We walked through the Jardin de Luxembourg in order to get from the quartier Latin to Montparnasse. The garden was created when Henri IV built a palace for his wife, Marie de Medici, to mimic her palace in Florence. The greenery, fountains and statues are placed in a symmetrical fashion around the palace, which today houses the French Senate. Unfortunately it was quite gray while we were there and the fountains do not run in the winter, but it was pretty nonetheless.

Montparnasse was the quarter once associated with the artistic life of Paris as it was the home to countless writers and artists. It is built on a fake “mountain” that was created from the debris amassed while other parts of Paris were flattened out. The quarter was named by the artists, who used the name of the Greek “Mount Parnos”, the mythical home of the Muses. (-Alona and Tess)