Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Luxembourg, Beaux Arts – 8 appartments

Welcome to the heart of a neighborhood with a unique history and culture. Boris Vian compared it to an island. Settle down at the Café de Flore or the Deux Magots and imagine this place when artists and intellectuals were agitated nonconformists, Beauvoir and Sartre in the forefront. Jazz, poetry readings, theatre shows… Creativity at its best. Post war, Be-bop dancing was common place here, as were the curiously eccentric Zazous with their outlandish rebellious fashion. The Jacques Brothers, Juliette Gréco or Léo Ferré were regulars at these bars. Impromptu jam sessions are still a common site today.

At Buci market take a glass on the terrace and discover, just nearby, the incredibly narrow Rue Visconti lined with sixteenth century houses. A few streets further, you will find the Académie française and the Beaux Arts school. Lastly, pop over to the “Luco”, the Luxembourg gardens, to have a coffee on the lawn and watch chess players or tennis players play as soon as spring arrives. Enjoy this wonderfully romantic place to stroll, as did Rousseau, Beaudelaire, or Delacroix in their time.