This area of the 14th arrondissement has a country atmosphere and is full of unusual places and charming views. Its inhabitants appreciate the green spaces, picturesque streets and architectural masterpieces that give it a unique charm.

The Parc Montsouris, one of the largest green spaces in the capital, has become a favourite place to relax for its residents. They love to stroll through its sublime English-style gardens, to meet on the banks of its lake, or to wander among its thousands of trees that change with the seasons.

Around the park, the cobbled streets once attracted artists such as Braque, Seurat, Lurçat and Soutine. At 53 avenue Reille, Le Corbusier also left his mark by building the villa-atelier Ozenfant, built in 1923 opposite the Montsouris reservoir, a cathedral of underground water cut into the rock. On Rue Nansouty, André Lurçat’s Villa Guggenbühl, a symbol of modern architecture, whose play of vertical and horizontal lines impresses with its lightness and rigour, is unveiled. On the other side of Boulevard Jourdan, the Cité Internationale Universitaire houses students from all over the world and regularly offers activities to Parisians.

An unchanging setting and the nerve centre of the district, the Place des Abbesses delights lovers of a postcard Paris and bohemian chic life.  Facing its ancient carousel and Wallace fountain, the square is also home to the deepest metro station in Paris, known for its ornate mouth, an artwork by Hector Guimard. This Art Nouveau aedicule is one of the last three of its kind in Paris. It used to stand in front of the Hôtel de Ville and was only moved to the Abbesses station in 1974.

The Saint-Jean de Montmartre church, inaugurated in 1904 and classified as a historic monument in 1966, was the first to be built in reinforced concrete. Covered with red bricks and decorated with enamelled sandstone pastilles, it offers an original architecture mixing Byzantine and Art Nouveau styles.

Although the big fashion names have joined the district, you can still find old-fashioned shops, artists’ studios, cafés, restaurants, and small businesses in Abbesses, where both residents and visitors meet cheerfully. An authentic and lively atmosphere, unique.

Essentially made up of streets and pedestrian lanes beautifully decorated with flowers, the Pernety district breaks away from the purely Haussmannian style and reveals charming brick buildings. With its commercial and authentic character, it is easy to immerse yourself in its unique atmosphere.

In the Rue des Thermopyles, you can wander between the old workers’ houses, the overflowing wisteria and some works of street artists, which make this place one of the most colourful in the capital. In Place de Séoul, we discover the architectural complex designed by Ricardo Bofill in 1985. A veritable glass amphitheatre, the place contrasts with the neighbourhood’s universe, imposing its monumental style in all discretion. The district is also subject to an ecological project, with the City of Paris planning to plant an urban micro-forest on the Place de Catalogne by 2024.

A former industrial city, the district is still home to the incredible Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins, which has been making tapestries for French palaces for over four centuries. This world-famous institution is also home to the Mobilier National, built by Auguste Perret in 1934, where the greatest craftsmen collaborate with artists such as Fernand Léger, Alexandre Calder, Sonia Delaunay and the new guard of contemporary designers, giving birth to original woven works.

Not far away, on Boulevard Arago, lies the extraordinary secret garden of the Cité Fleurie. A former collection of artists’ studios built in the middle of lush vegetation at the end of the 19th century for the Universal Exhibition, this place conveys the soul of its illustrious residents, from Paul Gauguin to Amedeo Modigliani.

The Gobelins district is very pleasant to live in and offers many cultural spaces, local shops and green spaces to its residents. Its Haussmannian buildings stand side by side with small houses lining green and flowery alleys.

A former religious stronghold of the capital, the district owes its name to the Val-de-Grâce abbey located on the Place Alphonse Laveran. A rare Parisian building in the Baroque style, this church was built by François Mansart on the orders of Queen Anne of Austria for the birth of Louis XIV. During the Revolution, the abbey became a military hospital, which has now been converted into a museum for the Army Medical Corps.

This district is also home to numerous university sites and research institutes such as the Curie Institute, one of the most important in France. Rue d’Ulm is home to the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, which has held a prominent place in the history of creation and design in France for many years. Restructured by the famous architects Philippe Starck and Luc Arsène-Henry in 2004, the building has a strong identity with its white Carrara marble façade.

Home to municipal institutions since 1357, the splendid Hôtel de Ville building reigns supreme in the Marais district. Bordered by the rue de Rivoli on one side and the Seine on the other, its ideal location offers Parisians a spectacular meeting place. Its immense square regularly hosts events, evolving with the seasons and unveiling magical settings for each occasion.

Opposite the Hôtel de Ville monument is the BHV Marais, a former bazaar, this department stores’ made up of several buildings in a pure Haussmann style is a must for Parisians. Adorned with original shops, the district is also characterised by the famous rue de Rivoli, one of the most commercial streets in Paris.

Finally, located between the Pont Neuf and the Pont de Notre-Dame, the Quais des Gesvres and the Quais de la Mégisserie invite you to take a nice walk along the Seine. During the summer, the famous Paris Plages is held in the district, which then takes on the air of a Mediterranean coast, where sunbeds and games of pétanque are invited.

Full of mythical places and symbolic streets, the Saint-Thomas d’Aquin district is a must in the 7th arrondissement. Crossed by the rue de Sèvre, the rue du Bac and the boulevard Saint-Germain, it is difficult to escape the typically Parisian atmosphere of the area.

In front of the Sèvre-Babylone metro exit, you will come face to face with the first department stores’ to be built: the Bon Marché. Founded in 1838, this refined and singular place with its cutting-edge selection and top-of-the-range services is a reference on the Left Bank. Designed by the architect Louis-Charles Boileau and the engineer Gustave Eiffel, its building combines non-conformism and elegance. Dressed inside with sublime Art Deco windows, you can’t escape its dazzling escalator, sublimated at every opportunity by artists of all kinds.

A joyful mix of genres, Saint-Thomas d’Aquin is also home to the Sciences Po school, the Hôtel Matignon, the Ministry of National Education, and numerous embassies and universities, adding to its student and political character.

Of course, there is no shortage of good places to go, with prestigious restaurants, excellent food shops and fantastic bookshops offering an incomparable quality of life.

Crossed by the famous boulevards Malesherbes and Haussmann, the Mairie district is surrounded by numerous green spaces and is particularly popular with families. There are excellent schools such as the Lycée Chaptal or Fénelon, as well as fine food shops and grocery shops.

The town hall of the 8th arrondissement, also called “Hôtel Cali”
in homage to its former owner, the industrialist
Jean-François Cali, is an old private mansion listed as a Historic Monument. Completed in 1865, its interior still features the magnificent sculpted decorations of Pierre-Édouard Charrier, who also worked for the Louvre Palace.

The Marcel Pagnol square offers residents a little green space, with its pretty fountain with flowering basins and the bronze statue of the poet Paul Déroulède built by the sculptor Landowski. In the background is the imposing Saint-Augustin church, whose originality lies in its eclectic style, inspired by Roman and Byzantine art, as well as in its majestic dome.

The name of this district comes from the presence of the National Archives in its heart. The Archives Museum and its magnificent garden have become a real escape from the stress of daily life. It offers more than 10 million digitized images tracing the history of Paris and its inhabitants.

Culture has an important place which is illustrated by the presence of galleries each asserting their styles such as Thaddaeus Ropac, Emmanuel Perrotin or Polka. On weekends, we like to stroll in its small pedestrian streets and its unsuspected places.

This district, enjoying a unique vitality, offers a living environment with multiple assets, including a singular architecture, in which skillfully cohabit private mansions, museums, shopping streets and green spaces. The Hôtel de la Soubise, built by the architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair, and the Hôtel Salé, which houses the famous Picasso Museum, are examples of the district’s must-see buildings.