☰Latin Quarter

The Latin Quarter gets its name from the medieval university students who spoke Latin here, and the Sorbonne still dominates the neighbourhood's identity. The streets between Boulevard Saint-Michel and the river are some of the oldest in Paris — narrow, winding, and layered with centuries of student life. Shakespeare and Company, the famous anglophone bookshop on Rue de la Bûcherie, is worth a visit for the building itself as much as the books; you can read in the upstairs library overlooking Notre-Dame. The Panthéon sits at the top of the hill on Place du Panthéon, holding the remains of Voltaire, Hugo, Curie, and Dumas. Rue Mouffetard, one of the city's best market streets, runs downhill to the south with cheese shops, bakeries, and cheap restaurants catering to students. Evenings are lively but not rowdy — more wine bars than nightclubs.