Boulevard Saint-Germain is one of the most famous avenues in Paris, and it crosses three arrondissements (the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain and the 7th arrondissement). In my opinion, the boulevard itself isn’t all that interesting, but if you walk along it and veer slightly north or south now and then, you’ll find quite a few interesting spots, most of which aren’t well known to tourists. The goal of this walking route is to help you discover those places, while taking it easy.
Since this route is fairly long, I decided to split it into two parts. The first part runs through the Latin Quarter (the 5th arrondissement) and starts at the beginning of Boulevard Saint-Germain, ending at Boulevard Saint-Michel. The second part picks up where the first one left off and ends deep in Saint-Germain.
A warm recommendation: before you start this walk, I highly recommend reading my article on the history of the Latin Quarter, since it has plenty of information that will help you understand everything you’ll see along the way, and make the walk even better.
One last thing before we start: I highly recommend doing this route on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday morning. Why? You’ll see as you read on…
How do you get to the starting point of the route?
This route starts at the very beginning of Boulevard Saint-Germain, and it’s perfect if you’ve just finished visiting Île Saint-Louis or if you live in the Latin Quarter and can walk there.
Everyone else is welcome to head to the Sully Morland metro station (line 7), exit the station, cross the Pont de Sully, and walk a few minutes to reach the start of Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Another option, for those living in Saint-Germain or the western part of the city, is to take metro line 10 and get off at Jussieu. From there, walk along Rue Jussieu, turn right onto Rue des Fossés Saint Bernard, and continue until you reach Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Made it to the start of the boulevard? Great! Let’s get going 🙂
The Walking Route Along Boulevard Saint-Germain
Instead of a map: under the heading of each stop you’ll find its address, and every address is a link. Click it, and the place will open right away in Google Maps.
The Only College That Survived the Middle Ages
Once you reach the starting point of Boulevard Saint-Germain, start walking west and turn left onto Rue de Poissy. This street took shape during the 18th century and was originally named after Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de Sartine, comte d’Alby (1729-1801), one of the legendary chiefs of the Paris police, whom we’ll meet again later on this walk.
Since a veal market once stood here, and since the best veal came from the town of Poissy, about 24 km from Paris, it was decided in the early 19th century to name the street after that town.
When you reach number 20, you’ll see a beautiful Gothic building. It’s the only one that survived from the original buildings that were once part of the University of Paris in the Middle Ages.
The building went up during the 13th century, originally meant to train monks from Clairvaux Abbey. Over the centuries it survived no shortage of crises, from the priests’ massacre of 1792, part of which took place here, to the destruction of the college’s church when Boulevard Saint-Germain was built.
In 2001, the Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger (1926-2007), a convert from Judaism, decided to renovate the building and turn it into a spiritual center open to the public. By the way, the cardinal’s family name was originally Lustig, and his relatives ran an electrical shop called Lustig in the ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem.
The Church of France’s Far Right
After finishing your visit to the Collège des Bernardins, continue on and turn right onto Rue Saint-Victor, then carry on to the intersection with Rue des Bernardins. There you’ll find a charming 17th-century church that a lot of tourists miss, which is a shame.
The church is called Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, and it was built in the 17th century. One of the best reasons to visit is a series of paintings by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), one of the greatest painters of the age of Louis XIV and the man responsible for the interior design of the Palace of Versailles (and also of Vaux-le-Vicomte).
Charles Le Brun and his mother are buried here, side by side, and the tombstone he built in her honor, showing the two of them rising from the grave, is one of the most beautiful and moving tombstones I’ve ever seen. That alone is worth the visit to this church.
A Square of Horrors That Became a Culinary Hub
After visiting the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, head down Rue Monge until you reach Place Maubert.
This square is named after one of the important professors of the University of Paris during the Middle Ages, Maître Albert (1200-1280), whose name over the years turned into “Maubert.” Maître Albert taught here in the 13th century under the open sky, but from there the place went steadily downhill.
First, the Bièvre river used to flow through here, and tanners dumped their chemicals into it, turning it into a foul-smelling sewer (which is why I like to call it the Sewer-vre). Second, during the 16th century the square became a favorite spot for executing Protestants, who were burned alive here after enduring horrific torture.
And here’s how the wheel turns (no, I don’t mean the wheel people were once broken on with iron bars): today this square has become an important culinary hub.
First, a food market is held here three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) between 7:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (on Saturday it closes at 2:30 p.m.), which is exactly why I recommend doing this walk on those days. But if you arrive on other days or at other hours, you won’t go hungry.
If you’re in the mood for a buttery, flaky croissant, feel free to walk right into the boulangerie Maison d’Isabelle, which won first place in 2018 for the best croissant in Paris. Personally, I could never tell the difference between the best croissant in Paris and a “regular” one from a neighborhood bakery, but if you don’t mind waiting a bit in line, with an American Instagrammer in front of you broadcasting her “culinary discovery” to all her followers, then there’s no doubt this croissant will be worth the effort (and the calories).
The pâtisserie is open every day except Monday, from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (on Sunday it closes at 6:00 p.m.).
The next place you’ll find there is the cheese shop of Laurent Dubois, considered the best in Paris.
Personally, I’m not sure it’s such a great idea to walk around the streets of Paris carrying cheese you just bought, so I wouldn’t recommend buying it right away. Instead, come back to the shop later (by the way, they also have a branch in the Marais).
If you decide to buy there, keep in mind the place is open every day except Monday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (on Sunday it closes at 1:00 p.m.).
Want to See the Original Blade of the Guillotine?
4 rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève
After eating a croissant and tasting some cheese, let me recommend a special museum that isn’t well known to the general public. On the side of Place Maubert you’ll find Rue Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève, and at number 4 you’ll find a particularly ugly police station responsible for the 5th and 6th arrondissements.
Ignore the ugliness, go inside, take the elevator up, and you’ll arrive right at the police museum. This museum was founded in 1909 by Louis Lépine (1846-1933), who twice served as chief of the Paris police. You’ll find a permanent exhibition here on the history of the French police from the 17th century to the 21st, alongside rotating exhibitions. Here’s a short video showing some of what you’ll see there:
Among the items on display are police uniforms from the 18th century, portraits of famous criminals, and the original blade of Paris’s first guillotine. True, the last time I visited (and it’s been a while), all the information was in French, but even if you don’t speak the language, it’s worth going in for just a few minutes, since it’s a free museum.
The place is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (on Thursday it closes at 7:00 p.m.). Closed Saturday through Monday.
A Poison Lab and a Fantastic Pâtisserie with a View of Notre-Dame
impasse Maubert, and rue de Bièvre
After visiting the police museum, head back to Place Maubert, cross Boulevard Saint-Germain, and go to Rue de Bièvre. Before you turn onto the street, you’ll find a very nice restaurant called Bistrot des Lettres, where you can get a decent lunch if you’re hungry (feel free to check out my recommended restaurants page on the site to read more about it).
Turn onto Rue de Bièvre and start walking toward the Seine. The restrooms of the University of Paris used to stand here, and the smell matched, but that’s all history now, and today it’s a prestigious street, partly thanks to the fact that François Mitterrand (1916-1996), president of France from 1981 to 1995, lived here at number 22.
Not far from the French president’s home you’ll find a small garden named after his wife, Danielle Mitterrand (1924-2011), who was not only the president’s wife but also a member of the Resistance during World War II. François Mitterrand, as is well known, was quite the womanizer and even fathered a daughter born out of wedlock, but Danielle didn’t sit idly by either, and she carried on an affair with her personal trainer in this very house while her husband lived at the Élysée Palace.
Continue on until you reach Quai de la Tournelle and turn left. Walk along the river, and you’ll soon notice the quay changes its name to Quai de Montebello, where at number 11 you’ll find one of my favorite pâtisseries in Paris, A. Lacroix.
This pâtisserie is the fruit of love between a French pastry chef named Arnaud Lacroix and an American businesswoman of Japanese descent who came to Paris about a decade ago. Their love story created this pâtisserie, and I got to visit when the place was still completely unknown. Since then, it has become very famous thanks to its beautiful cakes, like the apple cake that, to the naked eye, looks for a split second exactly like a real apple. If you’d like to read more about this pâtisserie, feel free to check out this article. The place is open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
After tasting a cake or two, feel free to leave the pâtisserie and walk south on Rue du Haut-Pavé, which continues as Rue Frédéric-Sauton. Turn left onto Impasse Maubert, a small alley that most travelers miss. Did you know that at number 4 here was a laboratory where the Marquise de Brinvilliers (1630-1676) and her partner Exili concocted the poisons that would go on to kill a good part of the marquise’s family?
Why did the marquise want to murder her family, and how did the whole story end? You’ll find the answer in the article The Deadly Marquise.
The Auditorium Where They Dissected Bodies
From Impasse Maubert, backtrack a few steps and turn left onto Rue de la Bûcherie, one of the oldest streets in Paris. Quite a few people mistakenly think the street is named after butchers (boucher in French), but it’s actually named after a port that once stood here, where logs floated down the Seine from the places where the wood was cut were unloaded.
After learning that important historical detail, go to number 15 and you’ll find a magnificent building.
What you see here is an auditorium where Jacob Benignus Winsløw (1669-1760), the famous Danish surgeon, taught anatomy. He did it right in this auditorium, dissecting bodies while medical students watched from above.
For many years the place was closed to the public, but happily, it was recently leased to a philanthropic organization, so now you too can visit the first floor of the building and reach the auditorium. I visited in April 2024 and even filmed a short video, which you can watch here:
@zvichazanov What happened in the past in the magnificent building at 15 Rue de la Bûcherie, and what’s happening there now? Get a peek into one of the most interesting buildings in Paris, one you definitely didn’t know about. By the way, if you’re looking for more secret spots in Paris and walking routes that will take you to places most tourists miss, all you need to do is click the link in my bio. #Paris #FrancophilesAnonymous #TheLatinQuarter ♬ Original sound – Francophiles Anonymous
By the way, this is a great chance to suggest you start following me on TikTok, and enjoy quite a few more videos like this one.
After visiting the place, step back outside and you’ll see that at number 16 lived, until his death, Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne (1734-1806).
That name doesn’t mean much to most people, but he was a fascinating man and one of the first journalists in Paris. Restif used to walk the streets of Paris every day (especially in the city’s less charming neighborhoods), collecting stories about crime, prostitution, and so on. At the end of the day he would arrive at the salons of Paris’s high society and tell them what was happening in their city. On top of that, he wrote books about Paris and several erotic novels, and he even claimed to have had more “conquests” than the famous Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), his contemporary.
That same Restif is the main character in one of my favorite French films. The film is called La Nuit de Varennes, and it stars, among others, Marcello Mastroianni (1924-1996), in one of his last film roles. The film follows Restif de la Bretonne, who “smells” that Louis XVI (r. 1774-1792) has fled Paris with his family, and that there’s a fascinating journalistic story in it. He sets out on a journey following the royal family and meets quite a few colorful characters along the way.
Here’s a clip from the film in which Restif de la Bretonne and Casanova are asked to share their experience “conquering” the opposite sex with one of the carriage’s passengers.
I’m pretty sure that after watching this short clip, you’ll be rushing to find the film somewhere online or on VOD.
The Saint Who Murdered His Father and Mother
Continue on Rue de la Bûcherie until you reach Rue Lagrange. Notre-Dame will be on your right, but it belongs to a completely different walk, so continue left and you’ll reach Rue du Fouarre. This street is named after the bundles of straw that students once sat on while listening to lectures.
Continue down the street and turn right onto Rue Galande, where at number 42 you’ll discover a movie theater with a sort of ancient relief on it. It’s the oldest street sign in Paris.
The sign, dating from the 14th century, tells the story of Saint Julien, after whom the street used to be named. According to legend, Julien was asked to ferry a leprous beggar across the river in his boat for free. He agreed to do the good deed, and then, halfway across, the beggar suddenly turned into Christ, who forgave him for his sins, which is exactly what we see on this sign.
So what were Saint Julien’s sins? It all began when, while hunting in the forest, he met a talking deer that told him he was destined to kill his father and mother. To avoid this, he fled far from home, and later met a woman who would become his wife, and it seemed the prophecy would not come true. But his father and mother never gave up looking for him, and one day they managed to find the house where he lived with his wife.
His wife was overjoyed to hear that Julien’s father and mother had found him, and since both were very tired, she offered to let them sleep in her and her husband’s bed while she went out to get food from the market. While his wife was out, Julien returned home and found his father and mother in the bed. He thought it was his wife sleeping with a strange man, so he drew his sword and killed them. Surprisingly, this part of the story doesn’t actually appear on the street sign…
A Chanson Club and the Bookshop You Have to Wait in Line For
56 rue Galande, and 37 rue de la Bûcherie
Continue on Rue Galande to number 56, where the restaurant Aux Trois Mailletz is located. Here you can have dinner while listening to a singer performing chansons, accompanied by a piano.
I spent an evening there and, I admit, was a bit disappointed. The food was decent but no more than that, and the poor singer had to compete with the never-ending noise of the diners, so I couldn’t really enjoy the music. So in my opinion, if you really want to enjoy chansons, go to Au Lapin Agile, where they don’t serve dinner and the audience joins in singing along with the performers instead of disturbing them.
Backtrack a bit to Rue Saint-Julien and head toward Notre-Dame. On your right you’ll find the church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, one of the oldest churches in Paris, alongside Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Saint-Pierre, in Montmartre.
A chapel stood here as early as the 6th century, but it was destroyed by the Vikings during the 9th century. The church you see here was built in its place during the 12th and 13th centuries, and since 1889 it has served as a place of worship for the Orthodox Christian community.
It’s not always easy to get into the church on an ordinary day, though concerts open to the public are occasionally held there. If you’d like to see which concerts will be held while you’re visiting Paris, feel free to click this link. If you’d like to hear one of the concerts held there in the past and see what the inside looks like, feel free to check out this video.
Right next to the church you’ll find Square René-Viviani, a magical garden home to one of the oldest trees in Paris. It’s a great place to stop for a moment, sit down, and enjoy the view of Notre-Dame. If you happen to be here in December, you’ll be glad to know there’s also a small Christmas market here (or at least there has been in recent years).
After resting a bit, leave the garden and head to Rue de la Bûcherie, which we fondly remember, located just west of the garden. Walk a bit further and you’ll see the Wallace fountain, and next to it a shop with a long line of Americans (mostly), patiently waiting to get in.
No, they’re not handing out free gold here (and not free croissants either). This is the old bookshop Shakespeare & Company, created about a hundred years ago by Sylvia Beach (1887-1962). The shop opened in the 6th arrondissement and quickly attracted the best Anglo-Saxon writers living in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s, among them Hemingway and the Irish writer James Joyce, whose book Ulysses Sylvia Beach edited and published.
The shop in Saint-Germain was shut down by the Nazis in 1941, and Sylvia Beach even spent about 6 months in prison. After France was liberated, Sylvia Beach was already too sick and too old to reopen the shop, but that’s not where the story of Shakespeare & Company ends.
In 1951, another American named George Whitman (1913-2011) opened a shop selling English-language books at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie and named it Le Mistral. George Whitman knew Sylvia Beach and became a close friend of hers, to the point of naming his daughter Sylvia after her. About two years after Sylvia Beach’s death, George Whitman decided to rename his bookshop after her legendary one, also to honor the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and that’s the name it still carries today.
The shop had already been known for decades, but in recent years several American social media influencers discovered the place, and ever since, swarms of tourists line up every single day to get in. How many of them actually buy the books sold there? I have no idea.
Despite the line, I still love this place, so every time I come to Paris, I visit at least once. If you’d like to visit a great shop that sells books in English and French, with no line and no influencers, let me recommend a shop called Galignani, on Rue de Rivoli, across from the Tuileries Garden.
The Jazz Club That Was Once a Revolutionary Court
After visiting Shakespeare & Company (and maybe buying a book or two), continue on Rue de la Bûcherie and turn north onto Rue du Petit-Pont, then right onto Rue Saint-Séverin. You should already be able to see the entrance to the Saint-Séverin church, and I highly recommend going in.
This church was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, and it’s named after Saint Séverin, who covered King Clovis I (r. 481-511), the first king of France, with his cloak while the king was ill. Another saint connected to this church is Saint Martin, who famously cut off part of his cloak to cover a poor man suffering from the cold. Saint Martin is known as the patron saint of travelers, and that’s why in the past people returning from a long journey would hang horseshoes here.
After visiting the church, don’t miss its cloister and the garden inside it. Unfortunately it’s not always open, but if you’re lucky enough to get in, you’ll find a magical corner that will make you forget you’re actually in the middle of an urban metropolis.
Go back to Rue Saint-Séverin and continue a bit further until you reach Rue Xavier-Privas. Turn right onto the street and walk until you reach Rue de la Huchette.
This is one of the legendary streets of Paris, and as early as the Middle Ages it was known for the roasted meat sold there (so you could say that, to some extent, the shawarma stands found on this street and the neighboring ones are the spiritual successors to the meat once roasted there).
Later on, the place became known less for meats on the fire and more for fleshly desires, as the street grew famous for 3 legendary brothels that once stood here. But beyond all that, there are two cultural institutions on this street that are really worth knowing, and they have nothing to do with either food or prostitution.
The first place is at number 5, called Caveau de la Huchette. Today it’s a very famous jazz club, but this place has a long and storied history that begins in the 17th century.
In 1614, an esoteric order called the “Knights of the Rosy Cross” was founded, and they found themselves a cellar on Rue de la Huchette to hold their secret meetings. In 1772, the place became a secret lodge of the Freemasons, and about twenty years later, the cellar became the seat of a revolutionary club that quickly turned into a court that sent people to the guillotine. That’s why you’ll find busts of Robespierre (1758-1794) and other revolutionaries here.
Finally, in the 1950s, the place became a famous jazz club where you could not only listen to jazz but also dance to it. Here’s what it looks like today:
The second place on Rue de la Huchette that still holds cultural importance today is the Théâtre de la Huchette, at number 23. Some of the most famous plays by one of the great playwrights of the Theater of the Absurd, Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), were staged in this theater, including “The Bald Soprano.”
The theater is still open today, and if you speak French and love Theater of the Absurd, you’re more than welcome to click the link I gave and book tickets for one of the shows playing there.
Everyone else is welcome to continue on Rue de la Huchette until you reach Boulevard Saint-Michel, where our walk ends and the walk through the 6th arrondissement begins, which also continues along Boulevard Saint-Germain in a kind of “zigzag.”
And to finish, two more short detours off the boulevard heading north toward the Seine, still within the 5th arrondissement.
A Wonderful View Toward Notre-Dame de Paris
Turn left onto Rue du Fouarre, then right onto Rue Galande. It’s a small, charming street with quite a few bars and restaurants, and at number 42 you’ll likely discover the oldest street sign in Paris.
Toward the end of the street, at the intersection with Rue Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, you’ll find the second smallest house in Paris (the smallest house in Paris is on Rue du Château-d’Eau).
After admiring the little green house, I highly recommend going into the church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, one of the oldest churches in Paris, which unfortunately stands in the shadow of Notre-Dame and so doesn’t draw nearly as many tourists. There’s also a charming garden just outside the church (Square René-Viviani), home to the oldest tree in Paris, where you can sit, look at Notre-Dame, and rest a bit (we still have a long walk ahead of us).
Keep following the map and you’ll reach Rue de la Bûcherie, named after the piles of logs that used to be floated down the Seine from place to place. On this street you’ll find Shakespeare & Company, an English-language bookshop that’s been around for nearly a hundred years, whose owner used to host poor writers and let them sleep for free on the shelves of the upper floors (from what I understand, students still sleep there for free today).
Boulevard Saint-Michel
Keep walking and cross Rue du Petit-Pont, then turn onto Rue de la Huchette. This is one of the oldest streets in Paris, one that has survived just as it was. At the start of the street you’ll find Caveau de la Huchette, which once served as a cellar for a secret society, a torture chamber, and … the first jazz club in Paris (the place certainly deserves its own post on this site, and it’ll get the honor it deserves soon).
As you walk along the street, notice the alley called Le Chat Qui Pêche, whose name translates to “the cat that fishes.” This is probably the narrowest alley in Paris, and it hides a fascinating story you can read about in the blog Walking Among Stories by Amiram Tsabari.
After visiting Rue de la Huchette, backtrack a bit and turn into the Salembrière passage, then turn right onto Rue Saint-Séverin. On your left you’ll find the Saint-Séverin church, built in the 15th century, highly recommended for its Gothic architecture.
Continue on Rue Saint-Séverin and cross Boulevard Saint-Michel. A monastery named after Saint Michael once stood here, demolished in the 19th century when the boulevard was built. Today there’s a fountain there with a statue of Saint Michael slaying the dragon.
Looking for a hotel or apartment close to Boulevard Saint-Germain?
That’s actually a great idea, since Boulevard Saint-Germain, the backbone of this walking route, sits in a lively and very central part of Paris.
If you’re a couple or a small family, let me recommend Oudi’s apartment on Rue des Anglais. This apartment is just a short walk from Boulevard Saint-Germain, and it’s comfortable, clean and well equipped with everything you need.
If the apartment isn’t available, check out the hotels page for the 5th arrondissement or the apartments page for the 5th arrondissement, where you’ll find a number of excellent hotels and apartments not far from Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Looking for more information about Paris?
Let me recommend you check out my Paris guide, which has plenty of recommendations, walking routes and much more.
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