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Sightseeing on The Left Bank of Paris

The famous Left Bank, south of the Seine, has traditionally been home to artists, intellectuals and students. Within it lies the beautiful Latin Quarter, so called because the residents at one time spoke Latin, and some of Paris’s most impressive monuments and attractions.

Begin your tour of Paris' Left Bank with the imposing neoclassical grandeur of the Panthéon - perhaps the grandest building in the area. The Panthéon is a memorial to the greatest intellectuals of France, to those heroes who shaped the modern world of science, art and literature.

Closer to the river you can explore the Musée de l'Assistance Publique, an interesting museum devoted to the history of hospitals in Paris. The museum employs a range of artifacts, equipment and pictures to depict the scene and the shifting attitude towards public health.

Art fans will enjoy the Musée National Delacroix, where paintings, pastels, sketches and lithographs of the French artist and inellectual Eugène Delacroix can be seen. This museum was once the home of Delacroix himself so it is particularly fascinating to wander amongst his work and living quarters.

Back up towards the river the Musée de la Monnaie was once a centre for the design, manufacture and control of French mint. A collection of coins, medals, documents, engravings and paintings can be seen and the museum also conducts workshops in which you can see coins being minted.

No trip to the Left Bank is complete without a visit to the majestic Musée d’Orsay. The building itself is an architectural wonder and the many masterpieces at the Musée d’Orsay including work by Delacroix, Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Guaguin and Cezanne.

Next head to the Musée de Rodin where a delightful journey into the work and practices of this brilliant sculptor awaits you. His greatest works are scattered around this studio/apartment and through the peaceful gardens. It is a true pleasure to unexpectedly happen across the kissers kissing or the thinker thinking.

Further south, the infamous Tour Maine-Montparnasse is also situated on the Left Bank, a controversial building to say the least. Depending on ones point of view this is either a blight on the skyline or a bold megalithic piece of modernist architecture; opinions differ although no-one disputes the magnificence of the views from the top, stunning as they are.