Stories
The Church of St. Germain des Pres
(Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés)
Once the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés is the oldest church in Paris. Built in the sixth century by Childebert I of Spain, it stands in the most charming Left Bank neighborhood in Paris—Saint Germain des Prés.
Step inside to see that although it has since been changed many times, the Chapelle de St-Symphorien was part of the original Benedictine abbey and is the final resting place of St Germanus (AD 496–576), the first bishop of Paris and known as Father of the Poor. Other notables at rest are philosopher René Descartes and in the Chapelle de Sainte-Thérèse, the Memorial of James Douglas, a Scottish nobleman and page of King Louis VIII.
Once outside, explore the neighborhood of endless boutiques, charming hotels, lively bistros, savory restaurants and waiters in traditional uniforms serving people grande crèmes while they read newspapers at the small outside cafés.
3 place Saint Germain des Prés, Paris 6th
Tél: 01 5542 8133
Métro: #4 St-Germain-des-Prés, #10 Mabillon
Bus: 69, 94
Velib: 06022 - Marche Saint Germain - Mabillon, 17 rue Lobineau; 06024 - Saint Germain Des Pres, 55 rue des Saints Peres
2011 hours: Mon-Sat 8am-7pm, Sun 9am-8pm
Admission is free of charge. Please remember that this is a place of worship, speak in hushed tones and remember to turn off your cell phones!
Stories about The Church of St. Germain des Pres
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Glory Years: Picasso
By Arnie GreenbergWhen I paint, my object is to show what I find, not what I'm looking for." The painter had created the first major Cubist painting. While Les Demoiselles was a monumental achievement, very few were ready to accept it. One said, "What a loss for French Art." Another said, "It's as though you wanted us to eat rope and drink gasoline." Another shook his head: "One day they will find Picasso hanged behind that picture."
Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 September 2011 ) -
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre
By Riana Lagarde
Riana Lagarde interviews Hazel Rowley, author of Tête-à-Tête: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre (Chatto & Windus, London, 2006)
The only things missing are the old French Franc “timbres” and brown faded envelopes as I hungrily read the clandestine letters between Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre and others compiled in Hazel Rowley’s dual biography Tête à Tête: The Lives and Loves Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. This is the ultimate interloping read of their true heartfelt feelings, their awful deceits and emotional anguishes. Rowley puts you the reader not only in the same Parisian café, but seated at their table, privy to all their conversations: from gossiping about their latest plat du jour (they had a “pact” to stay together and to tell each other everything), to politics of the times—they were politically engaged anti-bourgeois. You can almost hear the accordion music in the background, smell the thick tobacco smoke, hear the clink of coffee cups as you sit in an old wooden café chair while the bustling Parisian traffic passes through the windows of time. Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 April 2009 )
