Many dream of visiting Paris for different reasons. To some it is the city of love, to some the city of fashion, to some it is a culinary extravaganza with its boutique cafes and croissants. But to some it is a literary mecca, to retrace the steps taken by intellectual giants and wordsmiths.
If you are in Paris to experience its culture and historical heritage, you cannot leave the city without taking a walk on the Left Bank of river Seine. Paris is as much about this living legacy, as it is about museums and cathedrals. So, step out of the Louvre Museum, and start walking towards your left, to arrive at river Seine.
The river crosses the city in a graceful curve. Many arched bridges connect the two sides of the city across the river. And a paved walkway stretched along its left side. It is on this path that many have walked for inspiration.
Called the Rive Gauche classically, the left stretch of the river is indeed a picturesque walk. Across the river, you will witness many beautiful museums like the Museum D’Orsay and statue of Saint Michelle.
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The Ile de la Cité, located between the left and right banks of the Seine, harboured the original settlement by the tribe known as the Parisii in the 3rd century BC. Paris only sprawled south and north of the Seine beginning in the Middle Ages. But it is the stories of the Left bank itself that make it a historical walk.
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It was here that Ernest Hemingway walked in the evening after having completed writing a few pages of his novel in one of his frequented cafes. This is also where Scott Fitzgerald would drive with his wife and friends after there were bored of their numerous evening parties.
It is along these banks that Sylvia beach opened the first Shakespeare and Company, which acted as a refuge and salvation for many struggling writers during the 1920s in Paris. It is also in the vicinity of the Latin Quarters that was the home to the bohemian culture of Paris.
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Today, you can buy some of the rarest copies of books or beautiful sketches in one the many book stalls that adorn the street. Here you can still see people keeping company of books and a rich café crème.
The Rive Gauche is a living piece of history in Paris, and you cannot experience the city anywhere else like you would on the pebbled streets along the river.
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