Coming down to this area will not give you those “wow, this is Paris!” vibes. But that doesn’t mean you should disregard the area completely because it still is a part of Paris — albeit a more…sterile version (picture modernized buildings with the current trend of high ceilings and large vitrines). If you’re a bibliophile, head towards Bibliothèque François Mitterand* and you’ll be regaled with French literary collections, comics, manuscripts, expositions, and more. And bonus, if you try really hard and use your imagination, you’ll see how the four buildings look like open books facing each other. By all means, explore this area because you’ll find a Wizard-of-Oz-looking building (all green and made of glass) housing the City of Fashion and Design, and when you’re done, it’s easy to hop over to Gare d’Austerlitz where you’ll be able to traverse to more exciting areas.
*We’re in no way a qualified French teacher, but here’s a quirky lesson and useless info to shower your friends with (despite their protests): a library and a librairie are not the same thing, they’re faux amis or fake friends. A librairie here is a bookstore.
