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Walking from Rue de Rennes to the St Sulpice Church
[Total estimated walking time is 1:30 to 2 hours]
Our walk starts at the angle of Bld St Germain and Rue de Rennes, at the St Germain des Prés metro station. Our first steps will take us up the Rue de Rennes.
[Click on the marked places to be redirected to the corresponding fields]
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Rue de Rennes
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This street, which was opened in 1866, owes its name to the fact that it led to the Montparnasse train station, where trains arrive and depart from and for Brittany [the Westmost region of France - Rennes is one of Brittany largest cities]. The first 39 street numbers are missing because Haussmann [the architect who re-designed Paris under Napoleon III, c. 1850-60] had planned to continue the road right to the Seine so that it could join up with the rue du Louvre.
The Montparnasse Tower, up the street, was built between end-1969 and end-1972. Its construction was not without raising a heated controversy.
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At the intersection of rue de Rennes with boulevard Saint-Germain stands Embacle, a sculpture-fountain by Charles Daudelin donated as a gift from the Quebec government. In summer, water gushes up through the sidewalk's paving slabs, much to the delight of children.
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Fashion boutiques stand cheek-by-jowl, very stylish in the St-Germain district [Rue du Four, Rue de Sévres and Rue des Saints-Peres], less remarkable (but less expensive) the closer they are to the Montparnasse Tower.
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Walk up towards the Montparnasse Tower about 300 yards, turn right into Rue du Four. Walk to the Red Cross crossroads (Carrefour de la Croix-Rouge). |
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Carrefour de la Croix Rouge (Red Cross Crossroads)
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This busy crossroads offers various interesting sights, worth a stop.
First, take a step back when arrived at the end of Rue du Four. Turn around and look at the building situated at the corner of Rue du Four and rue du Dragon. Very classical lines, closed angle [a Time Life-style building]. Notice the Art-Nouveau style lantern and the dragon ironworks. Note also that all leftmost window overtures were walled - the reason could be a construction hazard, or a change of architectural design after the fact. This is not uncommon with early XXth century buildings in Paris.
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On your right, at No. 56 Rue du Four, look upwards and notice the recessed facade.
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Then enter the Red Cross crossroads.
Notice the stylicized benches on the sidewalk.
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From your position, look towards Rue de Sévres (in the direction facing the Centaure): you will discover the Société Générale Bank building, very atypically modern for the district.
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Now walk across the street, and enter Rue du Cherche Midi.
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Rue du Cherche-Midi
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The name of the street is either a corruption of "chasse-midi" [the thoroughfare running southward from the Hôtel de Chasse - the Chasse Mansion], or it comes from a painted sign showing a sundial and people coming "to find midday at two o'clock", in other words, looking for lunch when lunchtime had already passed ['Cherche-Midi' translates literally in 'Midday Seeking'].
Since the 1990s, shoe and clothing stores have been replacing antique dealers on the part of the street which is closest to the Red Cross crossroads. Yet, the old atmosphere still survives beyond Rue Saint-Placide. Two sundials are still visible at Nos. 19 and. 56 Notice also the many private mansions at Nos. 9, 11, 13, 15, 18 (some of the courtyards can be entered during the day).
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Poilane, baker - 8 Rue du Cherche-Midi
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Walk down Rue du Cherche Midi, and stop at Poilane, a very famous Parisian baker whose signature bread has become a feature of many a Parisian café's menus. Check the butter cookies, crunchy and deliciously buttery.
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We will now walk back to the Red Cross Crossroads. Take your time, enjoy window shopping. Our next stop is Rue du Vieux Colombier.
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Rue du Vieux Colombier
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Our walk is bound to lead us to the St Sulpice Church, and we are now in Rue du Vieux Colombier. This part of the 6th district obviously bears a Catholic imprint, as you will reckon. The street draws its name from the dovecot of the St Germain-des-Prés abbey. Its history can be traced back as early as AD 1292.
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At No. 17, look upwards, top of the door, and note the "Gaz à tous les étages" sign ["All floors have gas outlets"], a often-seen remnant of end-XIXth century Paris.
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Down the street, a large building houses the Firefighter Brigade ["pompiers" in French, i.e. "those who pump [water]"]. The lamppost is early-XXth century Art Nouveau style.
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Continue walking down the street, and check the Christian Parlor at No. 9. This is part of what this district is all about: Christianity, book publishing and fashion.
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You are now close to the St Sulpice Square, with its fountains, its church and its sidewalk cafes where students and Parisian strollers gather on week-ends.
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St Sulpice Square
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In the XVIIIth century, Place Saint-Sulpice was built in a dense, old urban fabric. However, the original plan for the square was never carried out: the design of all the houses was supposed to be based on the Servandoni Mansion located at the corner of rue des Canettes [in front of the Café de la Mairie]. |
Today, the square is lined with buildings that represent very different "powers": the St-Sulpice Church itself, a tax office, the district city hall, and many shops and businesses. Luxury boutiques have gradually replaced the "saint sulpiceries", stores that used to sell gaudy religious images and objects (doesn't that remind you of the 'Merchants of the Temple'?). Only one such shop has survived.
Rest a while at the center of the square and admire the stone fountain. The statues portray some of the diocese archbishops. |
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On your left hand, the Café de la Mairie was one of the places where Christian Vincent shot his movie La Discrete starring Fabrice Luchini.
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In the dead of the night the St Sulpice Square offers a spectacular, yet strangely intimate atmosphere.
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This small corner of the square, left of the St Sulpice church, is lined with famous fashion icons' shops. Meet Yves St. Laurent (or at least his creations) and Christian Lacroix.
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St Sulpice Church
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The first church on this site was built in the XIIth century for the peasants of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés parish.
Population growth in the XVIIth century prompted the construction of a new building, but the work dragged on for several decades due to a lack of funds. |
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A competition for the facade was held in A.D. 1732. The Florentine architect Servandoni won and built the large two-story colonnade. Chalgrin designed the north tower in A.D.1780. Work on the south tower was never undertaken. Inside, the first chapel features three paintings by Eugene Delacroix.
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Facing the church, with the fountain in your back, walk to the right tower angle. On your right hand opens a small street, Rue Henri de Jouvenel, the home of textbook publisher Belin.
The long, high wall on the right side of the street hides the former Seminary from view. The building now shelters the tax office [from Church power to State power, the story of post-revolutionary France].
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This building is a Greek-revival curiosity
in Rue de Jouvenel.
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Let's walk around the St Sulpice church, along Rue Palentine, and discover its back.
Notice the priest's house, tucked between the church and the presbytery.
On the lower cupola, notice the stong eagle. And on the back of the small tower, notice the turret (giving in Rue Garanciere).
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When you turn on your left, in Rue Garanciere, along the church wall, look at the three plaques showing the name of the street. And notice how the spelling of "Garanciere" changed from the old stone plaque [Rue Garanciers] to the newer ones.
Historical maps show this street already existed in A.D. 1540. It was renamed several times: Ruelle St Sulpice [St Sulpice Way], Rue Garance, Rue Garancee, Rue Garanciers and Rue Garanciere. The name derives from the Garanciere Mansion, built in the early XVth century.
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This is the lower part of the small turret built on the external wall of the second tower, in Rue Garanciere.
We are now heading towards the last section of our walk: the St Germain market. Walk to the end of Rue Garanciere, turn left into Rue St Sulpice, cross the street and turn right into Rue Mabillon, then make a right into Rue Lobineau.
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Saint-Germain market
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This market has existed since the XVth Century on this section of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey's domain.
King Louis the XIth (who reigned from 1461 to 1483) signed in 1482 the decree establishing the St Germain fair in perpetuity, 'all of the profits and rental income of the market buildings to be paid out to the monks of the St Germain Abbey.'
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The St Germain trade fair in the XVth century
In 1511, the hall with two roofs could have housed 300 merchants. After a fire in 1762, it was replaced in 1813 by a new market constructed by Blondel.
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The open air arcades with semicircular arches were covered by double roofs and surrounded by a square court.
The market was heavily transformed by architect Olivier-Clément Cacoub between 1985 and 1995. It houses shops, a swimming pool, and an auditorium.
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Walk under the market arcades, towards the opposite side, Rue Clément.
At No. 4, towards the middle of Rue Clément, across the street, lies the People's Kitchen Outlet of the 6th district ['Soupe Populaire' in French], a place where homeless and poor people can always be served a hot meal.
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Facing Rue de Montfaucon, on your left hand, is the entrance of the St Germain market.
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Walk down Rue de Montfaucon, and you are back on Bld St Germain. A last look at a Art Deco building, at the angle of Rue de Montfaucon and Rue du Four. Built in 1926 by Parrain Architects, its facade is a prelude to the massive architecture which dominated this part of the XXth century, caught between Stalinian concrete structures and fascism-inspired style.
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This is the end of our Rennes-to-St-Sulpice walk. We hope it was interesting, and you learned a few interesting tidbits about Paris history and architecture.
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