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Rue du Cherche-Midi
Was an ancient Roman road and now this narrow street has chic designer
boutiques, galleries and cafes. The world-famous baker, Poilane, is
at No. 8. Nearby is the first Parisian Department Store which belies
it name, Bon Marche. It has a fabulous food market ‘Le Grand
Epicerie’
Invalides & Napoleon's Tomb
The group of buildings
'Hotel des Invalids' was ordered by Louis XIV the ('Sun
King') to house the king's old soldiers. A year later he commissioned
the Eglise du Dome, a magnificent Baroque church with its beautiful
gold-leafed dome, which holds the impressive tomb of Napoleon. Napoleon
was brought here from his grave in St. Helena where he was exiled,
to fulfill his last wish to be buried 'on the banks of the Seine among
the people of France whom I have loved so much. In the complex is
the Army Museum with the largest collection of militia in the world.
Leading from the impressive forecourt of the Invalids with its captured
canons runs the tree-lined Esplanade des Invalides to the grand Pont
Alexandre III a gift from Czar Alexander to commemorate the 1892 French-Russian
alliance.
Musee Rodin
Musee
Rodin housed in the magnificent Hotel Biron. August
Rodin originally rented rooms in the Hotel for living and as a studio.
There were plans to destroy the house but in 1916 the French government
agreed to convert it into a museum for him. The museum now houses
his sculptures, academic paintings and sketches. There are also
several works by Camille Claudel, the talented sculptor who became
Rodin’s muse, model, and lover at the age of 17. He was nearly
50. The lovely garden is a setting for some of Rodin’s best
known works including ‘The Thinker’, ‘The Burghers
of Calais, and ‘The Gates of Hell’.
La Pagoda
In rue de Babylone stands a japanese pagoda built in 1895 by the founder
of the Bon Marche department store as a gift for his wife. In 1931
it became a cinema and cafe where silent screen stars such as Gloria
Swanson would like to go. In 1998 it closed due to a lack of fund
to maintain it, but happily it has been renovated and re-opened as
a cinema, still with its cafe.
Blvd du Montparnasse
Blvd du Montparnasse is lined with cafes and restaurants which
are evocative of the exciting period when the area was "hip".
The large Art Deco brasserie, 'La Coupole', at #102, which opened
in 1927 with columns decorated by different artists; the famed ëDomeí
at #108, now a luxurious fish restaurant and bar, the 'Rotonde'and
the late-night cafe, ëLe Selectí at #99. Further east along the
boulevard is the legendary ëLa Closerie des Lilasí a favorite with
Picasso and Hemingway, Lenin and Trotsky, and still has a clientele
of politicians and publishers.
There are many good Breton creperies off blvd. Du Montparnasse
as Gare Montparnasse serves the northwest coast of France and in
the 19th century many immigrants from Britanny settled here.
Continued...
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