A Stimulating Weekend in the 6th - Paris step-by-step

The Left Bank is the intellectual heart of Parisian art and culture. It’s where artists and philosophers famously congregated to discuss matters of import, and has been colonised since by their literary sons and daughters. The creative intensity may now emanate from the area’s ultra-cool shops and galleries, but La Rive Gauche still attracts interest. It’s the city’s most inspiring arrondisement.

Bounded by the Seine and Boulevard Montparnasse to the north and south, this is a busy collection of neighbourhoods to explore, shops and markets aplenty, strewn with a myriad of galleries reflecting the refined tastes of tres chic fashionistas who live here.

How to get here
City centre to city centre Eurostar takes just two hours and fifteen minutes from St Pancras to Gare du Nord, picking up along the way from Ashford in Kent and Ebbsfleet for prices starting at £59 return. On arrival, walk downstairs and take Metro line 4 (towards Porte d'Orleans) and a few stops later you're at Saint Germain des Pres or Saint Sulpice, in the heart of the 6th. Voila!

OK. WE’RE HERE.

Jean Paul Sartre may now be residing in Montparnasse Cemetery (beside his wife Simone de Beauvoire) but for a long time he frequented Cafe Deux Magots on Boulevard Saint Germain where intellectuals and artists passed the time in political and philosophical debate. You too can do that today, although the chances are your intercourse will be with a passing American tourist. It's still a pleasant enough place to sit, read Le Monde and sip one of Paris's most expensive coffees, but it's fair to say that the principal activity of the area today is a little less cerebral.

Retail therapy has taken over, and off the main boulevards in a maze of little streets and markets, Parisians can always find what they're looking for - particularly if you can wear, or eat, it. If shopping really is the new religion, then the rues and boulevards of the 6th hold more devotion than the churches of St Sulpice and St-Germain-des-Pres combined!

The temptation is to stay among the chi-chi stores surrounding Boulevard Saint Germain, and there's certainly a lot to attract your attention there, but the main drag south, Rue du Rennes, is where you should head, towards Montparnasse. That's where you'll find street after street of markets and shops and boutiques (esp Rue du Cherche-Midi) and eventually, in the 7th on Rue des Serves, Bon Marche department store, the 'grande dame' of the ‘hood. It's surrounded by some of the best shops Paris has to offer.

There's food for the soul too, don't ignore the churches of St Germain des Pres and St Sulpice, they're fascinating. The little galleries of Rue Mazarine, the student bohemia spilling out of the Sorbonne (or at least some of the cheap pizza) plus a plethora of cinemas and cafes along Boulevard Montparnasse are worth the trip in themselves.

STAY WHERE?

No shortage of accommodations but the Victoria Palace Hotel, hidden off Rue de Rennes on the little Rue Blaise-Desgoffe, is an imposing 7 storey 1913 landmark of La Rive Gauche. James Joyce stayed here, as did various royals from the dim and distant past. It's classic Paris, strongly independent, with a vibrant decor proud and loud  (think, big, bold wall fabric design - Lelievre, Gaston y Danieal and Braqenie if you must know), furniture in Louis Seize style, and magnificent marble bathrooms, all renovated recently by the same family who've owned it since 1936. Rooms are expansive in Parisian terms and all now have wifi and flat screen satellite TV. If you have brought your own car, there is even a private garage adjoining. The hotel is also a member of the Great Hotels of the World group.

But what really sets this hotel apart is its place in "the village" as the staff call their neighbourhood (quartier 'Cherche-Midi'). They support their local artisans, and have produced a 'Foodie Discovery Trail' around the handmade, the local, and noteworthy of the 6th: Boulangerie Pollane, fromagerie, charcuterie, and Armagnac makers, with a list of the local market locations, opening days and times. For the sweet toothed, there is a separate guide to the area's 17 old-fashioned confisieres and chocolatiers, all within walking distance.

In addition, they have created a "Junior Frenchman's Welcome Kit" for children, a jogger's guide to the area, and even a guide to solo dining in small, discreet restaurants and cafes.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, 1,2,3….

(1) The Victoria Palace Hotel (see above) guide to shopping goes way beyond food. A four section guide to 100 shops in the area breaks down into geography as well as type. Smarter shops are along Rue des Sevres, Rue du Vieux-Colombier and Rue du Cherche-Midi, a mix of upscale brocante, fashion, food and household. They highlight the intersection between Rue de Grenelle and Rue des Saints-Peres, although the market at Boulevard Raspail should not be missed.

(2) The Church at Saint Sulpice is a grand masterpiece from the 17th century, (the site dates back to the 13th) and is Paris’s second largest Cathedral after Notre Dame. It’s well worth a visit and the surrounding shops selling all manner of religious artefacts and figures for nativity scenes are a real Parisian curio. Readers of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code need little introduction to St Sulpice as it featured heavily in the book, with such serious descriptions of pagan sites, meridian lines, and the Priory of Sion, that the church authorities display a disclaimer to this day to deter the hordes who arrive looking for clues. “Contrary to fanciful allegations…” it begins, before demolishing, chapter and verse, everything that Dan Brown wrote about the place!

(3) Tour Montparnasse is the ugliest building in all of Paris, all 210 meters of it, towering above Gare Montparnasse like the demonic totem for some brutalist tribe of modernists come to destroy the uninterrupted beauty of Hausmann’s 19th century boulevards which adorn almost all of central Paris. But until it's knocked down, it has one merit. It affords a unique view across the city - it looks down on the Eiffel Tower for God's sake - and on a good day is well worth the 38 second elevator ride to the top. Le Tour Eiffel may be filled with grace and beauty, an engineering marvel of the day survived to now almost by accident rather than design, but this colossus, this sixties monolith is, well, it's, um ...taller.

LET’S DO LUNCH

Cheap (ish)
The tiny Au Pied de Fouet (3 Rue Saint Benoit, the second of three branches) not only serves excellent bistro food, but will allow you to meet the other clientele – it is house policy to share tables. Traditional French fare includes starters of lentil salad or egg mayonnaise (€3), mains of confit de canard or entrecote steak (€10)

Followed by excellent cheese or dessert (€3). Wine served by the carafe and the atmosphere is always jolly and convivial. Closed Sundays.

The restaurant is next door to one of Paris’s most delightful jazz venues, Chez Papa, where in the evening local aficionados gather to enjoy everything from mainstream jazz to local talent trying their hand. A Danish doctor who reveres Sinatra is a particular favourite of The Weekender.

Not so cheap(ish)
Behind Saint Sulpice in Rue Servandoni, is Au Bon Saint Pourcain, a venerable slice of Parisian history presided over by le patron Francois. This tiny bistro is so old it looks like a Hollywood set. It’s quiet and serves food that has been on the menu for decades. Cash only, but The Weekender was allowed to leg it to the nearest cashpoint after card refusal. The house wine (you’ll be poured a glass on entry) is Saint-Pourcain from the Auvergne and both the red and the white are equally distinctive. The kitchen pays no heed to passing fashion, which means that your sizeable portion of brandade de morue will be tasty and wholesome, the rabbit and beef dishes meaty, tender, and full of flavour. The place is clearly kept alive by its regulars but passing strangers are made to feel very welcome, which is good because you’ve been in living rooms bigger than this. If you’re hungry, the house starter is marinated leeks, the dessert Tarte Tatin, both yummy. Open for lunch weekdays only (dinner Monday to Saturday)

Not cheap but worthwhile 
It may seem bizarre to recommend a British restaurant in Paris but Alacazar has been on Rue Mazarine so long now (15 years?) it’s clearly been doing something right. Founded by Sir Terence Conran, this upscale modern brasserie serves French and ‘British’ food in a permanently buzzing atmosphere. Lunch menus start at €20 and climb quickly. Plats du jour plus fish and chips, quail stuffed with foie gras, or the Conran signature platter, a mountain of crustacean on ice. At night, DJ’s make a noise and there’s a party atmosphere.

WHAT’S YOURS?

The historic cafes and bistros of the 6th which became famous decades ago are now largely changed forever, either by catering for the hordes of devoted literary fans who arrive every year to pay homage (Cafe Deux Magots, Cafe Flore etc) or by becoming too expensive for everyday use, the excellent Alsatian Brasserie La Coupole and its neighbour Le Dome being a case in point.

But directly opposite La Coupole is the real deal, a cafe to hang out, meet locals (60% of the clientele are regulars, according to le patron) and have that aperitif (I'd choose a kir, but you decide). Cafe Select is a busy, bustling grandstand from which to view the world go by on Boulevard Montparnasse. Linger awhile and you'll be engaged in conversation, another aperitif, and possibly even a croque monsieur, as recommended by Mad Magazine cartoonist Rick Tulka, whose waspish study of the staff and clientele can be found in the excellent ‘Paris Café : The Select Crowd’, available thus far in the US and Korea but not, bizarrely, in France.

DINNER IS SERVED

We all like to discover our own little Paris Bistro and The Weekender has found several along the way. One of the most unusual, not to say small, is Le Petit Verdot (75 rue du Cherche Midi) which serves classic French cuisine, from well sourced ingredients, in artfully arranged courses. A typical menu will include Filet de bar, grilled with pepper and merguez (€24) or Thon miu-cut aux epices (€25) with an all-inclusive three courses dinner at €30. The wine list is split in two, a lively array of affordable regionals then a bible of heavy hitting stratospheric Burgundies and Bordeaux behemoths. All the more surprising then to be waited on by the owner, who is from Japan, and whose passion for French food and wine knows no bounds. He serves and a Japanese colleague cooks. It's a delight but if it’s full, head down to Le Rousseau (no 45) which is good too.