Constructed by Louis XV in 1744 in gratitude for recovering from gout, this massive temple to the great men of France houses the bodies of Voltaire, Rousseau, Mirabeau, Marat, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Jean Moulin (hero of the French Resistance during WWII).

Situated on the Quay just east of Place St-Michel, moved here after its location on rue de l'Odeon. This charming and chaotic bookstore is housed in an old building and run by the charitable octogenarian George Bates Whitman and his daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman, who have made it a meeting place for writers and expatriates. Nearby, on quai de la Tournelle, is the famous restaurant, La Tour d' Argent.

Jardins de Plantes (Botanical Gardens), also encompasses a zoo and the Museum of Natural History which kids love to visit, especially when the animals go for the daily walks and the ceiling changes color.

The Mosque of Paris
Is a Moorish-style building with soaring Minarets and pink marble fountains. It is a wonderful place to have a massage (hamman) and afterwards sit in the courtyard and sip sweet mint tea.

The Arab Institute
Designed by Jean Nouvelle to resemble the boats that carried Algerians; Moroccan and Tunisian immigrants to France. The institute has a unique shutter-like window system which opens and closes automatically triggered by the sun. There is a Moroccan restaurant on the roof and a superb view over Paris from the rooftop terrace.

In the east of the 5th arrondissement is Rue Mouffetard, a famous picturesque open market, which has been here since the 13th century. It leads into Place de la Contrescarpe made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his book about life in Paris. 'A Moveable Feast'. You can see where he lived lived in the 1930s.

A highway leaving Paris for Rome 2,000 years ago, Rue Mouffetard still boasts a street market that has functioned since about 1350, not to forget a public fountain erected by Marie de Medici, and church that briefly hosted a convulsionist sect in the 1700s.