Paris - Faubourg Saint-Germain

The Faubourg Saint-Germain in Paris extends from Saint-Germain-des-Prés to the Invalides. A select aristocratic district in the 18th C, it now contains the residence of the Prime Minister, various ministries and foreign embassies and, in the eastern part of the faubourg, high-class antique shops and art galleries.

Towards the end of the 17th C the Marais fell out of favor and the aristocracy and new-rich nobility moved to this area and to the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The court's return to Paris speeded up the process, and numerous hôtels (town mansions) were built here. Since then the Faubourg Saint-Germain has remained the favored residential district of the upper ranks of Paris society. Some streets in the area still give an impression of the homogeneous urban architecture of those earlier days. In Rue de Varenne, for example, are the Hôtel de Gallifet (No. 50), the Hôtel Matignon (No. 57), residence of the Prime Minister, and the Hôtel Biron, now occupied by the Musée Rodin. In Rue de Grenelle are the Hôtel d'Avaray (No. 79), the Hôtel de Bauffremont (No. 87) and the Hôtel de Maillebois (No. 102), as well as the Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons (1739-46), a masterpiece by Edmond Bouchardon, one of the most fashionable sculptors of the time of Louis XV.