Bordered on one side by the Bois de Boulogne and on the other by the Seine, the Auteuil-Sud district is a small haven of peace. Its many green spaces, its quiet and flowery streets, its beautiful private villas and its small chic shops, give it a village atmosphere, on the fringe of the Parisian ardour.

A favourite haunt of Hector Guimard, a figure of Art Nouveau in France, the district of Auteuil-Sud is punctuated by numerous architectural wonders. As you walk through its streets, you can rediscover his work, his stylistic evolution and his experiments. In the rue Boileau, there are a few masterpieces, including the Hôtel Danois, which today houses the Algerian embassy. A well-chosen residence, since this Art Nouveau building is strongly inspired by oriental architecture.

The district also has a few secret corners with a bucolic style, only known to local residents. Amongst them, the Boileau hamlet is home to a concentration of atypical dwellings, allowing us to discover, in its hidden alleys, a Swiss chalet, a Norman cottage or a surprising Arab palace.

Although it is not a favorite destination for tourists, it symbolizes a balanced daily life and a peaceful and airy living environment for families. A harmonious mix between wide avenues with large Haussmann or 70s buildings, quiet and residential streets, green spaces and livelier shopping areas.

The pretty Georges Brassens park offers country walks around its apiary and its vineyard, old book market on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as many activities for children. For a more street-art atmosphere, a section of the Petit Ceinture has been converted into a green promenade in the south of the district.

Convention also hosts pretty country-style cul-de-sacs. The Villa Santos-Dumont created in 1926 by the architect Raphaël Paynot is probably one of the most beautiful, with its houses and studio windows covered in greenery. Several artists have lived there, including the painter Fernand Léger, the Italian mosaicist Gatti and the sculptor Zadkine, a few meters from the former residence of Georges Brassens.

With its numerous train lines and 4 metro lines, the Montparnasse station is indeed a gateway to the suburbs, the West of France but also the whole of Paris.

But this district is not only a place of passage. Embodied by its 210-metre-high tower, which is due for a facelift by 2024 thanks to the Nouvelle AOM architectural group, it is also a business district where many companies have set up shop.

The heart of artistic and intellectual life during the Roaring Twenties, frequented by Erik Satie, Henri Matisse, Amadeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, among others, the district now attracts working people who appreciate the beautiful Haussmann buildings and the lively atmosphere. Between the big cinemas of the boulevard du Montparnasse, the theatres Gaîté-Montparnasse, Bobino, Edgar, and Rive Gauche, the brasseries, cafés or crêperies, the places to have fun are numerous.

Montparnasse also hides some pretty gems. To name a few: the magnificent and secret rue des Thermopyles, the charming alley lined with artists’ studios at 21 avenue du Maine, the Atlantic green lung garden on the roof of the station or the white ceramic building designed by the architect Henri Sauvage at 26 rue Vavin.

Typically, Parisian and with a lot of cachet, the street has managed to preserve its charm of yesteryear despite the surrounding transformations. It is an ode to gastronomy as it concentrates many food shops with tempting stalls that make it one of the most appetizing streets in Paris. But since the development of “SoPi” around it, it is also a landmark of galleries and trendy boutiques.

The famous Café de Flore, the Deux Magots and the Lipp brasserie, landmarks of many authors, singers and musicians of the 1950s, have not lost their superb reputation. They maintain the reputation of the district throughout the world.

If today the trendy and high-end boutiques are spreading, between the church of Saint-Germain and the Seine, the narrow streets lined with 17th century hotels remain the stronghold of art galleries and antique dealers – Kamel Mennour, Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Loevenbruck, Folia, Kreo.

Saint-Germain-des-Près is a small corner of elegance, whose particular aura attracts a chic and arty population.