Offbeat walks in the heart of Paris's 14th arrondissement

Time to enjoy the good weather! The City of Paris and the Tourist Office have created new guides to discover Paris in a different way.

Here is one of the offbeat walks in the heart of the 14th arrondissement.

Next week Storie will offer you another walk around Montparnasse. If you have nice pictures of our neighborhood, share them with #storieparis, so Storie's friends and lovers of our pretty Paris neighborhood can see them. Stroll happily and enjoy the walk!

WALK 1: A PASSION FOR ARCHITECTURE

The 14th is the ideal arrondissement for traveling through the different eras of architectural creativity. From modernism to modernity, from a surprising attempt to the most successful of daring moves, everything has been dared and everything has been considered in this charming, surprising part of Paris.

From Port Royal to Montparnasse, passing through the beating heart of the arrondissement, we take you on a walk with your nose in the air, your eyes wide open and your camera ready to click!

1. RUE CASSINI

The first stop on our architecture walk is rue Cassini, but we recommend starting your route at the Port Royal RER station. Admire this small station, built in 1895. It was the first station within the city limits to straddle the tracks, for lack of space. In front of you, in the distance, is the Observatory... watching you! Architecture walk, let's go! We take you to the nearby rue Cassini. Numbers 3bis and 5: why rue Cassini? Because it holds fascinating architecture. Take a look at numbers 3bis and 5, town houses with artists' studios in yellow brick for one and red for the other, designed in a style inspired by the Middle Ages. Both were drawn by the architect Louis Süe between 1903 and 1906. Number 12: the star of rue Cassini is no. 12, an artists' studio building from 1930 by Charles Abella. Neither Art Deco nor yet Cubist, this concrete building is designed in several blocks. Admire the lovely harmony of the wooden shutters, look at the bas-relief frieze by Xavier Haas, and know that Jean Moulin lived in this building.

2. THE FONDATION CARTIER AND ITS GARDENS

Here we are on boulevard Raspail, facing the Fondation Cartier! It is a museum space whose temporary exhibitions are often fascinating, so feel free to go in! But here, architecture is our subject. And this building is by the French architect Jean Nouvel. Of this work, completed in 1994, the architect said "the building belongs to the rain as it does to the wind. It is a fabric of ambiguities that plays on the limits of its outlines, plays with reflection within reflection." It is poetic and accurate: see how the light plays with the structure. Nouvel wanted his "monument for Paris" open, transparent and changing. It changes with the leaves on the trees and the weather. It is a free, open architecture that plays off the work of the artists exhibiting at the Fondation Cartier. Stroll through the gardens, take photos, discover the works scattered through them, and enjoy Jean Nouvel's architectural proposal! And if you want to dig deeper and learn everything, the Fondation Cartier regularly organizes "architecture tours".

3. CAMONDO AND THE ECOLE SPÉCIALE D'ARCHITECTURE

Did the Fondation Cartier dazzle you? Turn your head: right opposite, a strange post-modern building looks you up and down. It is the Camondo school building, which also houses the Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture (ESA). One school trains interior designers and architects, and the other trains architects! (As a footnote, Pierre Paulin, Philippe Starck and Jean-Michel Wilmotte went through Camondo, and the ESA trained none other than Robert Mallet-Stevens!) Designed in 1988 by the architects Cuno Brullmann and Arnaud Fougeras-Lavergnolle, this building is meant to be "high-tech". And it must be admitted that with its exposed metal structure and glass facades picked out in bright colors, Camondo stands out and blows up traditional Parisian aesthetics.

4. THE LEDOUX PAVILIONS AND THE MUSEUM OF THE LIBERATION OF PARIS / GENERAL LECLERC MUSEUM / JEAN MOULIN MUSEUM

Until now, the Museum of the Liberation of Paris was located above Gare Montparnasse. It will open on August 27, 2019 on place Denfert-Rochereau, in the Ledoux Pavilions that mark the square. The pavilions yesterday: built in 1787 by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, the "Ledoux Pavilions" are in fact a remnant of the gates in the Farmers-General wall that encircled Paris. These gates were there to collect the Octroi, the tax on goods entering the capital. As a footnote, Ledoux built many other gates: Belleville, Montreuil, Montmartre, Charenton, Ménilmontant, Reuilly, École Militaire... Each time he revisited the classical style with columns, pediments and arcades. The pavilions tomorrow: fully renovated, rethought and rehabilitated, these pavilions will house the entrance to the Catacombs in the east and, in the west, the new Museum from August 27, 2019, for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.

5. THE ANNEX OF THE 14TH ARRONDISSEMENT TOWN HALL: A FULLY INTACT ART DECO MASTERPIECE, CLASSIFIED AS A HISTORIC MONUMENT

It looks impressive, this annex of the 14th arrondissement town hall! Clad entirely in brick, it is a perfect example of the cubic architecture of the 1930s. Impressive, almost martial and massive, this building by the architect G. F. Sébille, a specialist in municipal buildings, reflects the complexity of the troubled interwar period.

Take the time to admire the door grilles by Raymond Subes. But don't stay outside! The interior decoration is impressive too: marble hall and staircase, stained glass, and bas-reliefs by Raymond Delamarre. Don't miss the festival hall upstairs, with its magnificent stained glass by Louis Barillet and its interwar wall frescoes. Note that very interesting free exhibitions are often held there.

6. THE VILLA SEURAT

Named in honor of the painter Georges Seurat, this private street was developed in the early 20th century for the penniless artists of Montparnasse, the "Montparnos" (see also our walk "Montparnasse and its artists"). The architect André Lurçat built no fewer than 8 houses of splendid uniformity on the Villa Seurat. They are 8 buildings designed almost to measure for artists short of studios. From Chaïm Soutine to Salvador Dali, from Henry Miller to André Derain, many painters and writers settled on the Villa Seurat to enjoy the bucolic calm that suits creative work.

Number 1: on the corner of rue de la Tombe-Issoire, this is the double house of the writer Frank Townshend. It is a double house in the literal sense: it is really two houses, each with its own kitchen, bathroom, studio, living room and bedroom. Number 4: this L-shaped house, owned by André Lurçat's brother, the painter, ceramist and tapestry maker Jean Lurçat, was the first building constructed on the villa. Number 7bis: this house stands out, so different from the others. For good reason: it was built by Auguste Perret (not André Lurçat) for the Ukrainian-born sculptor Chana Orloff, who had her studio there. Today it is a studio museum, open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, by reservation. You can also admire one of her statues, Mon Fils Marin (My Sailor Son), unveiled for the artist's 100th birthday in 2018 on the Place des Droits de l'Enfant, at the corner of rue Alésia-Tombe Issoire and rue Sarrette. Number 18: in this brick house the American writer Henry Miller wrote his famous "Tropic of Cancer". Anaïs Nin, Soutine and Antonin Artaud also stayed in this building.

7. THE RUE DU MOULIN VERT

We continue our architecture walk up the little rue du Moulin Vert. At no. 7, don't miss the mosaic dragon that decorates the facade of this 1930s brick building. At no. 23, you will notice a surprising narrow 1930s building with 3 studios and their glass roofs.

8. THE VILLA D'ALÉSIA

Art Deco and Art Nouveau facades, architects' houses and studios for artists or artisans: welcome to the splendid Villa d'Alésia, an open-air architecture museum. It is a living museum though, as these houses are lived in, so please respect the privacy of the residents. The Villa d'Alésia is already a strange Y-shaped street, but above all it holds architectural gems. Follow the guide: no. 37bis: brick... and glass roofs, in front, above, everywhere! You are facing the former studio of the painter Henri Matisse (it is now home to L'atelier Terre & Feu, an art school). No. 43: admire the large skylights edged with green paint. No. 43 is now a photography studio. This street also has the lovely house of the painter Auguste Leroux, and the big skylight of the animal sculptor Sandoz.

9. RUE LOUIS MORARD

Did you like the studios of the Villa Alésia? You will love the bow windows of rue Louis Morard! From no. 9 to no. 19 on rue Morard, there is a succession of bow windows of every kind and style: a surprising, slightly magical sight that you will surely love to photograph! Rue Louis Morard, Paris 14

10. "LES GRANDES BOUCHES"

These towers in the Plaisance neighborhood are not officially called that, but it is the nickname their residents gave them. Look at their balconies and you will understand! This typical 1960s "grand ensemble" housing project was designed by the architect Jean Balladur between 1968 and 1970, with the help of Jean-Bernard Tostivint. Balladur is best remembered for his most famous work, the seaside resort of La Grande Motte in the Hérault.

10. NOTRE-DAME DU TRAVAIL CHURCH

Have you ever visited a church with a metal frame? No? Then discover the beautiful and very surprising church of Notre-Dame du Travail, beside the railway tracks of Gare Montparnasse. From the outside, nothing hints at what awaits you through the doors of this church, designed by and for "the people". What will amaze you as soon as you enter is its incredible exposed metal frame, totally unexpected in a place of worship. Built by public subscription in 1900, the year of the great world fair that left so much to Paris, this church was designed for the workers nearby. The surprising metal frame reflects the budget limits of its construction (the 135 tons of iron used for the frame were salvaged from the ruins of the Palais de l'Industrie built for the World Fair), the modernist spirit of the time, and a wish to let the workers who attended it feel "at home". You could almost think you were in a factory at the turn of the century.

11. PLACE DE CATALOGNE & RICARDO BOFILL

You have now arrived at the heart of one of the temples of recent Parisian architecture: the places de Catalogne, de Séoul and de l'Amphithéâtre. Laid out in 1985, Place de Catalogne and the two squares around it (place de Séoul and place de l'Amphithéâtre) are the work of the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill. Place de Catalogne, with its emblematic fountain (an inclined black plane by Shamaï Haber), is open to traffic, while the other two squares are pedestrian and hold green spaces. If you take place de Séoul, you find yourself in the middle of a French-style boxwood garden, ringed by a vast glass building in the shape of an ellipse that Bofill named "Les Echelles du Baroque". It is social housing as much as a true work of architecture. In this micro-neighborhood you may get the strange feeling of being in a science fiction film or at the heart of an intergalactic sword-and-sandal epic, between classical colonnades and absolute modernity. To learn more about Ricardo Bofill's work: http://www.ricardobofill.com/ - Place de Catalogne, Paris 14

13. THE JARDIN ATLANTIQUE & THE MAINE MONTPARNASSE II BUILDING The Maine-Montparnasse I and Maine-Montparnasse II buildings stand on either side of the Jardin Atlantique, a small marvel of technology and greenery hidden on the roof of Gare Montparnasse since 1994. They are two housing slabs well older than the garden, built between 1959 and 1966 by the architect Jean Dubuisson. Architecturally, "Maine Montparnasse II" interests us most. Its residents call it "Mouchotte". With 88,000 m2 over 18 levels, it is the largest residential building built in Paris. At "Mouchotte" the facades are non-load-bearing and fully glazed, which lets plenty of light into the apartments. Deliberately smooth, these facades with their grid of aluminum elements recall a painting by Piet Mondrian, or the checks of Scottish tartan. Influenced by the Bauhaus and by Scandinavian architecture, Jean Dubuisson leaves here his most famous signature. Maine-Montparnasse II has also received the "20th Century Heritage" label. Feel free to get lost on the hidden lawns of the Jardin Atlantique and gaze at the hypnotic grid of Mouchotte. We guarantee a moment slightly out of time. Jardin Atlantique, access from 1 place des 5 Martyrs du Lycée Buffon, Paris 15, or from 4 rue du Commandant Mouchotte, Paris 14, or directly by the stairs near tracks 1 and 2 in Gare Montparnasse.

13. THE MONTPARNASSE TOWER

"The best view of Paris is from the top of the Montparnasse tower, because it's the only place where you can't see it." Parisians love to repeat this joke about this much-disliked tower. When it opened on June 18, 1973, the Montparnasse tower was the tallest tower in Western Europe (210 m high, 58 floors). The tower is now changing, shedding its dark clothes to wear a translucent facade by 2023. The change is happening along with the whole Gaîté-Montparnasse district. To learn more about the Montparnasse Tower, its history and its future, see the site dedicated to it: http://www.tour-montparnasse.fr/