Latin Quarter & Islands
Cross to the islands where Paris was born, browse a bookshop where 30,000 writers have slept between the shelves, and follow Hemingway's footsteps down a Roman road lined with cheese that's been aging since before he arrived. The Left Bank still reads, eats, and argues better than anywhere.
11 stops · 130 min · 5.8 km
Stops
Notre-Dame de Paris
religionConstruction began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and took nearly 200 years to complete. The cathedral's flying buttresses were revolutionary engineering that allowed the walls to be thinner and filled with stained glass. Victor Hugo's 1831 novel saved it from demolition and sparked a major restoration by Viollet-le-Duc. The devastating 2019 fire destroyed the 19th-century spire and most of the lead roof but spared the rose windows and stone vaults. Rebuilt and reopened in December 2024 after a five-year restoration effort.
The Pont de l'Archeveche behind the cathedral offers the best side view. Ile de la Cite's flower market (Marche aux Fleurs) is a short walk away.
Shakespeare and Company
cultureAn English-language bookshop on the Left Bank facing Notre-Dame, opened in 1951 by American George Whitman. It carries the name of Sylvia Beach's original shop (1919-1941) which published James Joyce's Ulysses when no one else would. Whitman offered free lodging to writers in exchange for working in the shop — over 30,000 'tumbleweeds' have slept among the shelves since the 1950s, including Allen Ginsberg and Anaïs Nin. The shop has a resident cat, beds hidden between bookshelves, and a hand-painted sign reading 'Be Not Inhospitable to Strangers.'
The upstairs reading room has hidden beds and a typewriter anyone can use. The adjacent cafe serves excellent coffee with a Notre-Dame view.
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