Saint-Germain-des-Près Quarter

Program

• Institut de France—an academy, in fact, five academies, the most famous of them, the French Academy (Académie Française), was established by Richelieu in 1635.
• School of Fine Arts, located on the site of a monastery built by the first wife of King Henry IV—Margaret of Valois, the famous Queen Margot in the early 17th century.
• Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Près (Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Près) with a church considered the oldest in Paris.
• Church of Saint-Sulpice (Eglise Saint-Sulpice). A giant monument of French architecture that took 130 years to build. The first chapel to the right of the entrance was painted by Eugène Delacroix, and around the church Dumas the father housed his musketeers.
• Commerce-Saint-André Courtyard—part of Old Paris hidden behind the façade of Boulevard Saint-Germain. In house No. 9, Dr. Guillotin tested his machine of ideal death—the guillotine—on lambs.
• Le Procope Café-Restaurant, opened back in 1686 by the Italian Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli.
• Odeon Theatre (Odéon). In 1784, the premiere of "The Marriage of Figaro" took place here, bringing Beaumarchais fame and a brief acquaintance with the Bastille.
• Carmelite Barefoot Church (Église Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes). A rare dome church in Paris, painted with frescoes of religious themes.
• Palace of Luxembourg—the French version of the Pitti Palace in Florence, built by order of Maria de' Medici in the first half of the 17th century. We will admire the famous garden and the Medici Fountain with golden fish.

I always carry a professional camera with me and will be happy to take memorable photos for you at no cost.