Lessons for topic Travel

In our previous lesson, we learned that Paris is divided into districts called arrondissements, numbered one to twenty. While arrondissements have definite boundaries, quartiers (neighborhoods/districts) all have names instead of numbers and can span over several arrondissements. Each quartier has its own distinctive character. Let's explore some of the most significant ones, starting from the first arrondissement onwards to discover le Louvre-Rivoli, Montmartre, le Marais, le Quartier Latin, and farther afield, Montmartre.

We will start with le quartier du Louvre-Rivoli, which stretches over the first three arrondissements of Paris and includes—you guessed it—the Musée du Louvre (Louvre Museum), where Yabla guide Mathilde is standing:

Alors nous sommes donc au cœur du premier

So we are in the heart of the first

arrondissement de Paris,

arrondissement of Paris,

à deux pas du Louvre.

two steps away from the Louvre.

Captions 1-2, Mathilde - La Comédie-Française

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Still in the first arrondissement, Mathilde takes us to La Comédie-Française (French National Theater). Founded in 1680, it is the oldest state theater company in Paris that is still active today:

Et euh... plus précisément, là, je me tiens Place Colette,

And uh... more precisely, I am standing here in the Place Colette,

donc du nom de la très célèbre écrivain française

so named for the very famous French writer

du vingtième siècle,

from the twentieth century,

devant la Comédie-Française.

in front of the Comédie-Française.

Captions 5-7, Mathilde - La Comédie-Française

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In the second arrondissement and still in Louvre-Rivoli, we meet a local resident, Aldo, who shares some of the darkest secrets about his quartier (or his street, to be more precise). An infamous empoisonneuse (poisoner) lived just a few doors from his home. Thankfully, that was in the 17th century! Find out the fate of this infamous empoisonneuse in Aldo’s video:

Et au vingt-trois habitait, euh...

And at number twenty-three lived, uh...

une des empoisonneuses les plus fameuses de Paris.

one of the most famous poisoners of Paris.

Captions 9-10, Aldo - L'empoisonneuse du 2e

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Walking from the second arrondissement toward the third and fourth, you will find one of the oldest quartiers in Paris, Le Marais (literally, "The Swamp"), so named because it was originally a swamp that was later drained and developed. Over time, the once prosperous Le Marais became a poor and unsanitary district, which Swiss architect Le Corbusier set out to raze as part of his ambitious and controversial Plan Voisin (Neighbor Plan) in the 1960s. André Malraux, President de Gaulle's Minister of Culture, put a stop to this and saved the Marais from destruction in order to preserve its historic flavor:

Le quartier historique du Marais serait quant à lui, entièrement rasé

As for the historic district of the Marais, it would be entirely leveled

Caption 29, Le Plan Voisin - Le projet fou auquel Paris a échappé

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Today the Marais district is famous, among other things, for its Place des Vosges, a perfect square of 140 by 140 meters. Our trusty guide Daniel Benchimol tells us about its history:

La place des Vosges,

The Place des Vosges,

qui était autrefois l'ancienne place royale d'Henri Quatre...

which was once the former royal square of Henry the Fourth...

Caption 5, Voyage dans Paris - Le Marais - Place des Vosges

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Moving on to the fifth and sixth arrondissements on the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) you will come across le Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter), called “Latin” because the students living there once used Latin as a study language. Dating from the Middle Ages, the Quartier Latin boasts one of the oldest universities in Paris, the Sorbonne, which is still active today. Sorbonne students like to wander in the nearby public garden, Jardin du Luxembourg:

Les étudiants de la Sorbonne et des autres universités avoisinantes

Students from the Sorbonne and the other neighboring universities

aiment se donner rendez-vous ici

like to get together here

Captions 11-12, Voyage dans Paris - Jardin du Luxembourg

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The Quartier Latin has another surprise in store: a Roman amphitheater right in the middle of Paris! Daniel Benchimol will take you to the city's one and only amphitheater, les Arènes de Lutèce (the Lutece Amphitheater):

Ce sont les seules arènes qui n'aient jamais existé

This is the only amphitheater that ever existed

dans l'histoire de la ville de Paris.

in the history of the city of Paris.

Caption 11, Voyage dans Paris - Quartier Latin

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Moving farther afield to the north of Paris, toward the 18th arrondissement, we arrive at Le Quartier de la Butte Montmartre (or "Montmartre" for short), on which sits the 19th-century Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart Basilica), which is quite recent by European standards. Find out what Amal and Caroline have to say about it in their video:

Montmartre est un haut lieu de culte.

Montmartre has been a hotspot of worship.

Le Sacré-Cœur fut érigé

The Sacré-Cœur [Sacred Heart] was erected

vers la fin du dix-neuvième siècle.

toward the end of the nineteenth century.

Captions 8-10, Amal et Caroline - Montmartre

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Walking a mile or so toward the 19th arrondissement, you will climb toward the Butte Bergeyre (une butte is a mound/knoll), one of the dozen or so hills of Paris. From there you will be able to see the Butte Montmartre as well as enjoy a magnificent view of the city, as shown in Daniel's video:

Cette butte Bergeyre est un endroit

This Butte Bergeyre is a location

qui permet d'avoir un panorama exceptionnel sur la capitale.

which allows you to enjoy an exceptional panorama of the capital.

Vous pouvez bien sûr découvrir

You will of course be able to discover

le Sacré-Cœur et la butte Montmartre

the Sacré-Coeur [Sacred Heart] and the Butte Montmartre

Captions 6-8, Voyage dans Paris - Butte Bergeyre

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Thank you for taking part in our discovery of a few of Paris's many quartiers. Feel free to explore more of them through our Paris-themed Yabla videos. Happy traveling!

While nothing compares with visiting Paris in person, the next best thing might be to take a virtual visit through our Yabla videos and through this lesson. Here, we will focus on the general layout of the city, which will help you find your way around Paris and appreciate its unique features.

Paris is divided into twenty administrative areas or districts known as arrondissements, as our trusty guide Daniel Benchimol explains in his video:

Je ne pense pas vous en avoir déjà parlé

I don't think I have mentioned this to you already,

mais Paris est divisé en vingt arrondissements.

but Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements.

Captions 35-36, Voyage dans Paris - Le Seizième Arrondissement de Paris

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In fact, the numbers of the twenty arrondissements are included in the postal codes. They are such an integral part of Parisian life that most people only mention the number—as in le onzième (the eleventh)—and skip the word arrondissement altogether:

Nous sommes actuellement

We are currently

à l'intersection de la rue Saint-Maur

at the intersection of Rue Saint-Maur [Saint-Maur Street]

et de la rue Oberkampf,

and Rue Oberkampf [Oberkampf Street],

en plein quartier du onzième...

in the heart of the neighborhood of the eleventh [arrondissement]...

Captions 16-18, Lionel L - L'art éphémère à Paris

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The arrondissements are arranged in a unique clockwise spiral or snail-like pattern, as Daniel Benchimol explains: 

Les arrondissements parisiens sont construits comme des escargots:

The Parisian arrondissements are shaped like snails:

on part du numéro un et on progresse jusqu'au numéro vingt.

we start from number one and we progress up to number twenty.

Captions 37-38, Voyage dans Paris - Le Seizième Arrondissement de Paris

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Daniel goes on to mention that the city of Paris is split into two banks, la Rive droite (the Right Bank) and la Rive gauche (the Left Bank), as the river Seine traverses the length of the city:

Nous sommes ici dans le seizième arrondissement.

We are here in the sixteenth arrondissement.

C'est la Rive droite.

It's the Right Bank.

Et si l'on traverse la Seine, on passe donc Rive gauche...

And if we cross the Seine, we then pass then to the Left Bank...

Captions 39-40, Voyage dans Paris - Le Seizième Arrondissement de Paris

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Interestingly, by simply crossing the Seine, you can jump from the 16th arrondissement to the 7th. If that doesn’t seem logical, it’s because of the city's snail-shaped arrangement, as shown on this map.

...et on passe donc dans le septième arrondissement.

...and we arrive then in the seventh arrondissement.

Caption 41, Voyage dans Paris - Le Seizième Arrondissement de Paris

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In any case, the Seine is never far away. Not only is it an important geographical feature but also an integral part of Parisian culture. In her video, Patricia invites you to stroll along les quais de la Seine (the banks of the Seine), among other things:

Et on peut aussi bien naviguer sur la Seine

And one can just as well sail over the Seine

en bateau-mouche

by "bateau-mouche" [tourist boat, literally "fly-boat"]

que flâner au bord de ses quais.

as stroll along its banks.

Captions 44-45, Le saviez-vous? - Le romantisme français

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Indeed, the Seine is a permanent fixture along with its many bridges—thirty-seven of them. In Daniel's opinion, le pont Alexandre Trois (Alexander the Third Bridge) is one of the most beautiful of them:

Et vous aurez... devant vous, bien sûr, la Seine,

And you will have... in front of you, of course, the Seine,

et aussi la vue sur un des plus beaux ponts de la capitale,

as well as the view of one of the most beautiful bridges in the capital,

le pont Alexandre Trois.

the Alexander the Third Bridge.

Captions 6-7, Voyage dans Paris - Le Pont Alexandre III

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But there are many other interesting ponts, such as le Pont-Neuf (New Bridge), which incidentally no longer lives up to its name, as it's the oldest bridge in Paris. You can learn more about le Pont-Neuf and Paris's many other bridges in Daniel's video on the subject:

À quelques centaines de mètres du pont des Arts,

A few hundred meters from the Pont des Arts,

voici le Pont-Neuf,

here is the Pont-Neuf [New Bridge],

qui malgré son nom, est le plus ancien pont de Paris.

which, despite its name, is the oldest bridge in Paris.

Captions 11-12, Voyage dans Paris - Ponts de Paris

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As you stroll along the Seine admiring its bridges, you will come across two islands: l'île Saint-Louis (Saint Louis Island) and l'île de la Cité (City Island). On l'île de la Cité, you will discover the iconic cathédrale Notre-Dame:

Sur l'île de la Cité vous trouverez bien sûr

On the Île de la Cité you will find, of course,

la cathédrale Notre-Dame.

the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Caption 4, Voyage dans Paris - L'Île Saint-Louis

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Thank you for taking this quick stroll through Paris with us. You can explore many more sites in our Voyage dans Paris series.