Saint-Germain-des-Prés

If there were one single place in Paris where I feel most at home, it would be on Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Not only because I lived on a street adjacent to it, but because of it's history, style and cult destinations.
Saint-Germain-des-Prés was built up around what was originally a benedictine abbey founded by the son of Clovis I in

511. Right is a picture of what remains of the original abbey, and the oldest church in the city.

Up until the 17th century, the Abbey owned most of the land on what is know known as the Left Bank. But individuals began purchasing land from the Abbey and building chateaux upon it. Saint-Germain-des-Prés transformed from farming lands to what it is now over time, and has maintained it's current look from the Haussmmanian developments under Napoleon.

Sine the 20th century, Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés, has become known for it's nightlife, cafes and famed philosophers like Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. The two most celebrated cafes are Les Deux Magots, where Hemingway could be found writing, and Le Cafe de Flore, home to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

The cafes are pretty expensive, but worth a visit for a small coffee and Croque Monsieur or Soup d'oignon (French onion soup).

Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés, is also great location to shop for high-end french labels such as Sonia Rykiel (which has a dazzling collection of jeweled penis paperweights).

Walking around Saint-Germain-des-Prés, feels like a trip through the different centuries of the city, from the Middle Ages to the present, and a great place to get away from the tourist packed Rue St. Honore, near the Louvre, and experience Parisian life.