Quartier Latin, Paris

In the lower part of the Quartier Latin is the church of Saint-Séverin (named after a hermit named Severinus who lived here in the sixth century), one of the finest examples of the Flamboyant style of Late Gothic architecture. A visit to the church could be combined with one of the fine organ recitals regularly given here.The church stands on the site of an early chapel and a small church which was destroyed by the Norsemen. The present church was begun at the beginning of the 13th century, partly destroyed, apparently by fire, in the 15th century, and was finally completed in Late Gothic style between 1450 and 1520.The first three bays of the nave are in the simple style of the 13th century; then beyond this are slender pillars with elaborately carved capitals and fanciful keystones. The choir, surrounded by a very beautiful double ambulatory, is a masterpiece of Late Gothic architecture with its wonderfully intricate net vaulting. The stained glass in the first three bays, with figures of Apostles (14th C.), came from the choir of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The other windows in the nave date from the 15th century. In sharp contrast are the modern windows in the choir (by Jean Bazaine, 1966). The little garden on the site of the old graveyard is surrounded by ossuaries.

On the banks of the Seine opposite the Pont de Sully in Paris is the Institut du Monde Arabe, a tall rectangular building (completed 1988) with a facade which has the effect of filigree work. This cultural center, established to promote relations between East and West, was designed by Jean Nouvel in a style with reminiscences of Arab architecture. It consists of two slender parallel slabs, nine storys high, housing a library, lecture rooms, a museum and a documentation center. A feature of the building is the fenestration of the south front: square windows reaching the full height of the story with ornamental metal openwork screens filtering light into the rooms.The Museum and Documentation Center, extending over seven storys, give a comprehensive view of the art and culture of the Islamic world, with displays of calligraphy, printed books, coins and astrolabes, valuable carpets, textiles and other everyday objects, including contemporary work. From the restaurant on the roof terrace there are superb views over the Cité to the Arc de Triomphe and on clear days as far as La Défense.

Originally designed in 1878 as a private museum for a collection of watercolors, the Pavillon de l'Arsenal was opened in December 1988 as a documentation and information center on the history of Paris.With 1,600sq.m/17,200sq.ft of exhibition space, the center illustrates the development of the city and its architecture. The central feature of the permanent exhibition on "Paris, the City and its Projects", which occupies half the area of the center, is a large model (40sq.m/430sq.ft) of the city on the scale of 1:2,000. Special exhibitions, changing every three months, are devoted to particular themes in the history of Paris, often with comparisons between Paris and other European cities, and another exhibition illustrates new projects currently under way.Excellent informative material on French architectural history is supplied by the Documentation Center and Phototheque.

The remains of the Roman amphitheater of Paris, discovered in 1869, give some idea of the huge size of the original structure. The elliptical arena, 56m/184ft long by 48m/157ft across, is roughly the same size as the interior of the Colosseum in Rome. Gladiator and animal fights were staged here.The amphitheater was built in the Roman city of Lutetia about A.D. 200, but later in the same century, during a barbarian incursion in 285, it was used as a quarry of stone for building defensive walls. Although it had only 36 tiers of seating it could accommodate an audience of 17,000 - almost the whole population of the city.

The imposing Baroque church of Val-de-Grâce is part of a well preserved 17th C convent, now a military hospital. Anne of Austria, Louis XIII's wife, had purchased the conventual buildings and presented them to a house of Benedictine nuns, vowing at the same time to give them a church if she gave birth to an heir to the throne. In 1638 she had a son, the future Louis XIV, and in 1645 she fulfilled her vow, commissioning Jacques Lemercier to build the church, which was completed by Gabriel Le Duc in 1667. It was the only Baroque church in Paris so strongly influenced by Rome, the great center of 17th C Baroque architecture.Lemercier modeled the west front on the church of Santa Susanna in Rome with its double row of columns, but in a more vigorous and upward striving form. The dome, modeled on St Peter's in Rome, is of livelier effect with its sculptured vases, windows and a relief frieze of the royal fleurs de lys and the initials A and L; while the drum is given a strongly plastic form, with projecting pilasters, overhanging cornices and deeply set windows.The interior of the church is also marked by the plastic approach which governs its architecture and decoration as a whole. The barrel-vaulted nave consists of three bays, in each of which are side chapels. On the round- headed arches are reliefs of the Virtues, and in the medallions are the Forefathers of Christ. The crossing is given greater emphasis by a stepped dais bearing a baldachin supported on columns - again modeled on Bernini's baldachin in St Peter's. In the dome (height 40m/130ft, diameter 17m/55ft) is a huge fresco (by Pierre Mignard, 1665) of God the Father surrounded by saints and martyrs. The chapel on the left of the choir has a fresco portrait of Anne of Austria in the dome; the chapel on the right, formerly the nuns' choir, is dedicated to St Louis (Louis IX).

The Collège de France in Paris, originally known as the Collège des Trois Langues, is one of the most celebrated academic centers of teaching and research in France. The original building, with three wings round an arcaded courtyard (designed by Chalgrin, 1778), was considerably extended in the 19th century and again in 1930.The Collège des Trois Langues (College of the Three Languages), also known as the Collège des Lecteurs Royaux (College of the Royal Lecturers), was founded in 1530 by François I, who thus established his reputation as "father and restorer of learning". An admirer of the Italian Renaissance, he desired to create a center of learning independent of the Church in which the three languages of antiquity - Hebrew, Greek and Latin - would be studied, as in Italy, on the basis of the original texts. The lecturers were paid by the king himself and not, as was the normal practice, by the students.The freedom of the teaching staff from any academic constraints and the students' freedom of access to lectures without payment of any fee have been maintained down to the present day. The Collège de France, however, differs from the Sorbonne in granting no degrees, diplomas or titles. Its teaching program now extends to almost all the humanities and the natural sciences.Among the best known professors who have taught at the Collège de France are the physicist André Ampère, the historian Jules Michelet, the writer and poet Paul Valéry, the philosopher Henri Bergson, the ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, the philosopher Michel Foucault and the literary critic Roland Barthes.

Rue Mouffetard is a narrow street running down from the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, near the Panthéon and the church of Saint-Etienne-du- Mont, to Place des Gobelins. The little street, lined by small restaurants (in the upper part of the street mainly Greek), has preserved something of its medieval character. As far back as Gallo-Roman times this was the route which the inhabitants took when traveling to the south. The street was occupied in the past by butchers and tanners and must have been a rather malodorous area, as its name suggests (from mouffette, a term applied to something evil- smelling). It is now a picturesque little street of old-established shops, wind-battered houses of the 16th-18th centuries and cozy bars, among them the popular "Pomme de Pin" in Place de la Contrescarpe which was frequented in the 16th century by Rabelais and the poets of the Pléiade, Du Bellay, Ronsard and Ponthus de Tyard.The colorful market in the lower part of the "Mouffe", which sells everything from fresh fruit and vegetables by way of an excellent selection of cheeses to fish and poultry, is particularly lively on Sunday mornings.

In Paris, the church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, on the Quai Saint-Michel beyond Square Viviani, now belongs to the Greek Orthodox community. It was built, in High Gothic style, between the mid 12th and mid 13th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries the Rector of the University was elected in this church, and its bell was rung to announce the beginning of lectures. The interior of the church is dominated by an icon-decorated screen installed in 1901.The view from here across the opening of Rue Galande to St-Sevérin is one of the most faithfully reproduced scenes of old Paris.

Couvent des Cordeliers is an ancient convent located on the banks of the river Charente. The old vestry and monks' refectory feature the original fireplace, authentic wall drawings and ancient furniture. Today it operates as a bed and breakfast while maintaining much of the interior as it was.The courtyard of Couvent des Cordeliers has a garden, swimming pool and fountain.

The Paris Mosque, with a 33m/110ft high minaret, was built in 1922-26. The building also houses the Islamic Institute of Religious Studies. The prayer hall may be entered every day but Friday; shoes must be taken off before entering.Within the complex are a Turkish bath (hammam) and a small Arab restaurant.

The Théâtre de la Huchette, a tiny theater with only 80 seats which has staged the same program - Eugène Ionesco's two famous one- act plays, "La Cantatrice Chauve" ("The Bald Prima Donna") and "La Leçon" ("The Lesson") - every evening for over 30 years, usually to full house.

This is a reference library, founded by the feminist journalist and writer Marguerite Durand in 1931, with over 25,000 volumes on the history of women in society and the feminist movement.

In Square René-Viviani in Paris is a legendary second-hand bookshop - George Whiteman's very individual Shakespeare & Company, which sells old editions of everything from Shakespeare to James Joyce.

With over three million volumes the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, situated in the University quarter, is second only to the Bibliothèque Nationale.

This center is dedicated to the marine world. The exhibitions present the reconstruction of marine landscapes with the audio-visual material.

The museum contains a collection of anatomical items illustrating disease and malformation dating from 1820 to 1935.

Musée d'Histoire de la Medecine obtains surgical instruments from an old surgical arsenal. There are history of medicine and portraits of deans.

This museum includes a reconstruction of a fair from 1850 to 1950. There are 14 rides inside the museum.

This is an open-air museum in Paris with sculpture by Arman, Brice, César, Etienne-Martin, Schoffer, Stahly, Zadkine, etc.