Sunday in the 6th Arrondissement

After a late start to the day, we spent the entire afternoon in the Saint Germain-des-Prés quarter. We traveled by metro, which was a lot more fun than I anticipated, and popped out right next to the famous Saint Germain-des-Prés church. Having slept the morning away and, therefore, skipping breakfast, we quickly sat down at Les Deux Magots (which supposedly translates to "The Two Figurines" and is based off of the title of a famous play in the 1800s) for lunch. Not only is this one of the cutest cafés we've been to yet, but it is also historically significant! It was the "hang-out spot" of the literary and intellectual elite of the city (i.e. Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and the list goes on)... And they have extremely delicious croque madames!

Lunch at Les Deux Magots

After a bite to eat, we walked around a little and stumbled upon the entrance of Musée National Eugène Delacroix, the apartment-turned-museum of the French painter. Not only were the lithographies (on stone and paper) incredible, but so were the furniture pieces in the beautiful apartment. Anyone who is interested in art, or Shakespeare (many lithographies featured were of scenes from Hamlet), should definitely stop by. 25 years old or under: admission free!

Then we walked back to the church, right as it began to rain. We took a half hour to ourselves, sitting in one of the pews and read for a little. Afterward, we wandered a few blocks until we found Café de Flore, another café historically known as a rendezvous place for intellectuals and artists, and sat down for coffee.

Outside/Inside of St. Germain-des-Prés

Coffee break at Café de Flore

The last thing I wanted to do before we left was visit the Jardin du Luxembourg so we walked from the café down to the garden, stopping along the way to take pictures of pretty doors (some of which had plaques describing the different famous people who once lived there). The garden was impressive - the landscaping, immaculate. It was busy with tourists and locals, sailing remote-controlled boats on the pond, reading, and taking pictures. The weather was beautiful so we decided to sit down in a few chairs surrounding one of the center lawns to read under the sunshine. Before we knew it, almost an hour had gone by and it was time to return home.