Boulevard Saint-Germain

The Boulevard Saint-Germain is a famous Parisian street located in the Saint-Germain-des-Présneighborhood. It stretches across 3 districts or arrondissements.

The name of this boulevard derives from the Abadía Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the oldest churches in Paris, founded in the year 543.

The nave of the church is one of the last remaining vestiges of Norman art in Paris.

What to See on the Boulevard Saint-Germain

For many years, major artists such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Picasso strolled along the Boulevard Saint-Germain before settling into its most famous cafés, the legendary Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots.

Also here is the bar La Rhumerie, which was a regular haunt of Antonin Artaud.

On the Boulevard de Saint-Germain there are shops, chocolate shops, places to eat and bars that stay open well into the night.

As you walk through it, you will also find hotels, art galleries, antique shops, and bookstores.

Cour du Commerce-Saint-André

At number 130 on the Boulevard de Saint-Germain you find a gateway to the past. It is a pedestrian passage that has been authentically preserved as Paris looked in 1734.

Along its ancient cobblestone streets you will find historic restaurants and cafés such as Le Procope, a bistro founded in 1686 and still popular among Parisians and visitors alike.

At number 9 on the Cour du Commerce, lived the German engineer Tobias Schmidt, who refined a prototype of the guillotine until he perfected it, first using sheep and later using cadavers obtained from the Paris morgue. It is therefore said that this street is where the guillotine was born.

Find out more about what to see in Paris.

Address

Boulevard Saint-Germain
Paris, France

Getting there

Metro Saint-Germain-des-Prés Line 4 and Odéon Line 4 or 10