The 6th Arrondissement of Paris gives the Seine River a perfectly Parisian, blasé embrace just below the Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. This left bank neighborhood manages to check every box for visitors to Paris (whilst simultaneously looking down it’s nose at them): history, architecture, shopping, dining, highbrow intellectual stimulation, and glamour. Highlights include the posh, manicured Jardin du Luxembourg (don’t miss impeccably dressed French kids pushing vintage toy sailboats around the park’s mythical central pond), the fancy Saint-Germain-des-Prés art galleries, cafés haunted by the ghosts of high society literaries and philosophers (Bonjour Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre at Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots) and, of course, the Saint-Sulpice cathedral (Film legend Catherine Deneuve is watching you from her penthouse right across the square). End your Sixième visit with a stroll down the poetically named rue du Cherche-Midi (‘Noon-Seeking street’—The convoluted story behind the name doesn’t disappoint).
You want to stroll down the Seine, you need to stroll down the Seine—Parisians love it and when the weather is cooperating, are there all of the time—a result of the unique development of the Berges de Seine over the last few years. It went from multi-lane highway to frolic zone for pedestrians, cyclists, and alcohol appreciation meetings alike. Read in-depth to decode it according to your tastes and plans for the day as the vibe varies quite a bit from cheap, youthful, and boisterous East to still-lovely but touristy, 15€-for-a-mediocre-cocktail, West side (If you can see the Eiffel Tower…)
Montparnasse
Once known to be the hangout of King Louis XIII, Delacroix and Voltaire, the Jardin du Luxembourg and the cafés surrounding it highlight the art, culture and relaxed way of life that are intertwined with Parisian life. Besides the gardens, don’t miss the enclaves around Carrefour de l’Odéon, St-Sulpice cathedral, Théâtre de l’Odéon and the Sénat, and rue de Médicis.
This is the best-known, most visited part of the Sixth. The reason is that it’s a mix of chic and commercial, plus central and beautiful. Highlights here include the picture-perfect, quiet area around Place de Furstemberg, the very old church after which the quarter is named, Café de Flore, Café des Deux Magots (don’t bother eating at these institutions. The food is pricey and quite frankly not worth the Benjamins. Instead, enjoy a drink on the terrace), Rue Bonaparte, Rue Jacob, and Rue de l’Université. Quaint rue de Buci is filled with tons of touristy restaurants and bars, and it gets loud.
