Paris Guide
Montparnasse and southern Paris
The swathe of cafés, brasseries and cinemas that runs through the heart of modern Montparnasse has long been a honeypot for pleasure-seekers, as well as a kind of border town dividing the lands of well-heeled St-Germain from the amorphous populations of the three arrondissements of southern Paris, the 13e, 14e and 15e. Overscale developments from the 1950s to the present day have scarred parts of this southern side of the city, but there are three great parks – Parc André-Citroën (with its very own tethered balloon), Parc Georges-Brassens and Parc Montsouris – and some enticing pockets of Paris that have been allowed to evolve in a happily patchy way. Lively areas such as Pernety and Plaisance in the 14e, the quartier du Commerce in the 15e, and the Butte-aux-Cailles quartier in the 13e are pleasant places to explore, and well off the tourist track.