Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), the two most influential French intellectuals of the 20th century, met in 1929 while preparing for the entrance exams of the prestigious teacher training school, the École Normale Supérieure.
Sartre took first place and Beauvoir came in second, but it was Beauvoir who set the real record: she became the youngest person ever to pass that grueling exam. That was the start of a friendship that lasted their entire lives, one that shaped not only 20th-century philosophy but also Saint-Germain, which became the couple’s spiritual home.
After finishing their studies and teaching in various French towns, the two returned to Paris, where Sartre kept teaching. They both lived in small rooms in modest hotels in the Latin Quarter and spent their time writing. Sartre’s first novel, “Nausea” (La Nausée), was published in 1938. In it he attacked French bourgeois society and laid out the philosophy of individual freedom with which he would become identified.
During World War II, Sartre was taken prisoner, and when he returned to Paris in 1941 he gave up teaching entirely to devote himself to writing. Beauvoir became a celebrated author in 1954 with her novel “The Mandarins” (Les Mandarins), which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt.
From the end of World War II on, Sartre and Beauvoir became the “aristocracy of Saint-Germain.” You could find them working and arguing in the neighborhood’s cafés, marching alongside the Communist movement they supported, and reshaping how people thought about marriage, life, sex, love, war and feminism.
The couple’s philosophy was eagerly embraced by the younger generation, who wanted to put the horrors of the past behind them and saw Beauvoir and Sartre as role models. What started as a philosophical conversation grew into an entire bohemian way of life, as young Parisians began rebelling against their parents and spending hours in cafés debating the principles of existentialism.
Both Sartre and Beauvoir eventually moved to Montparnasse, each living in an apartment overlooking a different edge of the neighborhood’s famous cemetery. Although their romantic relationship had ended, their intellectual bond and friendship held strong until the end. They wrote, worked and spent time together until Sartre’s death in 1980. Beauvoir died six years later and was buried beside him in the Montparnasse Cemetery.
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 spot will open right away in Google Maps.
Hôtel La Louisiane
Start the walk at the Saint-Michel metro station and head toward Rue Saint-André-des-Arts, which leads to Rue de Buci. On Rue de Seine, turn left and walk to number 56. There you’ll find the Hôtel La Louisiane, where Sartre and Beauvoir lived for three years starting in 1943. Beauvoir later wrote, “I never lived anywhere that so fulfilled my dreams. I would have been happy to stay there for the rest of my life.”
Sartre and Beauvoir’s cafés
6 place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and 172 boulevard Saint-Germain
Retrace your steps to Rue de Buci and turn right on Boulevard Saint-Germain until you reach the famous Café des Deux Magots, which became something like the headquarters of the existentialist movement once Sartre decided to turn the café into his “office.” You’re also welcome to continue a little further along Boulevard Saint-Germain to number 172, where you’ll find Café de Flore, a favorite of both Sartre and Beauvoir.
This is where they sat, ate, drank and turned the place into an intellectual magnet, a reputation it still carries today (perhaps no longer entirely deserved). The more down-to-earth reason Beauvoir and Sartre loved this café was that the heating always worked there, which was more than could be said for the small rooms the couple lived in during the 1940s.
The building where Sartre lived with his mother
Head to the north end of the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés to 42 Rue Bonaparte, where you’ll find the building where Sartre lived with his mother for many years. The apartment was attacked twice by people trying to silence the philosopher’s political views, but that never stopped him from continuing to spread his ideas.
The building where Simone de Beauvoir was born
Go back to Boulevard Saint-Germain and turn onto Rue de Rennes. Then turn left onto Boulevard Raspail toward Boulevard du Montparnasse, and you’ll reach number 103, where Simone de Beauvoir was born and spent her childhood.
The apartment Simone de Beauvoir bought
Continue along Boulevard Raspail and turn right onto Rue Schœlcher. After the success of “The Mandarins,” Beauvoir was able to buy an apartment here at number 11 bis, where she spent the last 33 years of her life.
The grave of Sartre and Beauvoir in Montparnasse
Continue south and turn right onto Rue Froidevaux. Enter the Montparnasse Cemetery, and at the end of the street head north until you reach the shared grave of Sartre and Beauvoir.
Two more important cafés of Sartre’s
Head out onto Boulevard Edgar-Quinet and walk to number 29. This is where Sartre lived during his final years. From here he walked almost every day to Beauvoir’s apartment, stopping now and then at Café de la Liberté, located on Rue de la Gaîté 1.
Cross Place Delambre and turn right onto Rue Delambre. Head to Café Le Dôme, located at 108 Boulevard du Montparnasse, where Beauvoir and Sartre used to sit during the early years of their relationship. Sit down for a coffee of your own. You’ve finished the walk.
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