Left Bank in Paris

Analysis paralysis? Join the artists and intellectuals for an in-depth discussion of existentialism and all things avant-garde. Les Deux Magots café claims Surrealism was invented there with scribbles on the back of one of its napkins. Along with a few hundred other bars around the world, La Closerie des Lilas declares it was Hemingway’s favourite watering-hole. The newest heated argument is over the virtues versus vices of the Musée du Quai Branly.


Musee Rodin 
Wander through the rooms of this elegant mansion to see Rodin’s exquisite ballerinas in bronze, but don’t miss the real beauties out in the sculpture garden under the lime trees. Contemplate The Thinker, the Gates of Hell and the Burghers of Calais. The museum has an excellent hand-held audio tour and there’s a café in the garden.
Metro: Varenne (line 13)
Address: 79 rue de Varenne
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 18 61 10
Opening times: Apr-Sep, Tue-Sun 09:30-17:45 (garden closes at 18:45); Oct-Mar, Tue-Sun 09:30-16:45 (garden closes at 17:00)
Prices: €6; reduced €4
Web: www.musee-rodin.fr
 

Les Deux Magots 
Claiming to be the birthplace of surrealism, it’s admittedly as touristy as it gets but that doesn’t detract from a late-night cup of verveine with signature macaroons. Even the waiters with their twirly moustaches are caricatures of what a Parisian café should be. Yes it’s overpriced but it’s a Parisian institution.
Metro: St-Germain-des-Prés (line 4)
Address: 6 place St Germain-des-Prés
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 48 55 25
Opening times: Daily 07:30-01:00
Prices: €15 for a hot drink and dessert
Web: www.lesdeuxmagots.fr


Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art 
Head down to Montparnasse and seek out this classy, glassy building designed by Jean Nouvel, where you’ll find challenging contemporary art exhibitions with a strong focus on African, American and Japanese art. Then after soaking up a little cultural sustenance you can take a stroll around the wild garden designed by Lothar Baumgarten. The Nomadic Nights, or Soirées Nomades, are wonderfully eclectic evenings of performance art, including dance, drama and concerts.
Metro: Denfert-Rochereau (line 4, 6) or Raspail (line 4, 6)
Address: 261 boulevard Raspail
Tel: +33 (0)1 42 18 56 50
Opening times: Tue 11:00-22:00, Wed-Sun 11:00-20:00
Prices: €6.50; reduced €4.50; under-10 free
Web: www.fondation.cartier.fr


Café Delmas 
For late-night chat, head to the Latin Quarter, home to Sorbonne University. Half way down rue Mouffetard is Delmas which, although more expensive nowadays, is also sleeker than it was. The vast terrace, overlooking a square with a fountain and a sparkly-lit tree, is heated in cooler months. Happy hour runs from 19:00-21:00, and there’s late, live music too. Snacks include hamburgers and club sandwiches.
Metro: Monge (line 7)
Address: 2 place de la Contrescarpe
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 26 51 26
Opening times: Sun-Thu 07:30-02:00, Fri-Sat 07:30-05:00


Shakespeare and Company 
A literary hub for much of the last century, Henry Miller called this dusty bookshop, “a wonderland of books”. Now a city landmark, George Whitman (in his nineties), the American proprietor, nicknames his shop The Tumbleweed Hotel because staff, and sometimes even customers, have slept among the bookshelves. Visitors have included Anaïs Nin, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Durrell. Whitman’s daughter, now in charge, runs a summer literary festival on the banks of the Seine and has plans for a café and a cultural centre.
Metro: Maubert Mutualité (line 10)
Address: 37 rue de la Bûcherie
Tel: +33 (0)1 43 25 40 93
Opening times: Daily 10:00-23:00
Web: http://shakespeareco.org


Musée du Quai Branly 
Paris' first major museum to open in twenty years, dedicated to art from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, has courted controversy since it was conceived ten years ago by former President Jacques Chirac. Critics say it perpetuates the colonialist spirit. Curators say it celebrates cultural diversity. Displays include decorated skulls from Papua New Guinea, Native American feather headdresses and wooden masks from Mali.
Metro: Alma-Marceau (line 9)
Address: 37 quai Branly
Tel: +33 (0)1 56 61 70 00
Opening times: Tue, Wed, Sun 11:00-19:00, Thu-Sat 11:00-21:00
Prices:  €8.50; reduced €6.50; under-18 free; free to all on the first Sunday of every month
Web: www.quaibranly.fr


Café de Flore 
For almost 100 years, this has been the hangout of intellectuals, painters, publishers and film-makers. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote of it: “the Café was for me the Road to Freedom”. This is where he and Simone de Beauvoir wrote, dreamt and met their friends. In spite of its location in the tourist zone, this café has somehow retained its local clientele, who come here to sip cups of thick hot chocolate.
Metro: St-Germain-des-Prés (line 4)
Address: 172 boulevard St-Germain
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 48 55 26
Opening times: Daily 07:30-01:30
Web: www.cafe-de-flore.com


Panthéon 
In the intellectual district around Sorbonne University stands the formidable, 18th-century Panthéon, built by Louis XV to honour Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. After the Revolution, the temple became the resting-place of some of France’s greatest citizens, including Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Alexandre Dumas.
Metro: Cardinal Lemoine (line 10)
Address: place du Panthéon
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 32 18 00
Opening times: Daily 10:00-18:00
Prices:  €7.50; reduced €4.80; under-18 free
Web: www.monum.fr


La Closerie des Lilas 
Enjoy a nightcap where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out in this nostalgically atmospheric piano bar. If you’re feeling really sentimental, take a battered copy of A Moveable Feast, his non-fiction memoir of Paris between the wars, and sip the cocktail named after him. OK, so it’s touristy now, but you can’t argue with the legacy of the place: Cézanne, Fitzgerald, Miller, Wilde, Man Ray and Ezra Pound have all stopped by.
Metro: Vavin (line 2)
Address: 171 boulevard du Montparnasse
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 51 34 50
Opening times: Daily 23:00-01:30
Web: www.closeriedeslilas.fr