Walking tour of the Beaubourg and the Womb of Paris

Once there was the village of Bobourg, which was included in Paris during the construction of the walls of Philip II Augustus. It gave the name of the quarter and passing here the street Bobur.

The construction of the Centre for Contemporary Art, initiated by President Georges Pompidou in Bobour, was completed in 1977 after his death. Unusually, the building is brought out and painted in different colors those elements that are usually hidden from view - pipes for water, electrical wiring, air conditioning. You can climb to the observation deck from above the building and admire the city from there. You can also see Notre Dame and the City Hall and the Opera and the Louvre and even the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre.

We cross the Boulevard of Sevastopol and get into the Womb of Paris.

Already from the beginning of the XII century, near the church of St. Eustache, there were shopping arcades, where several of them were located. Parisian merchants brought their goods once a week. The famous perfumer was born here. And the Parisian beggars settled near the Court of Miracles. The central market, as well as the adjacent quarter, was called Le Al. Emile Zola described the market in his novel and called it “The Womb of Paris”, and the name has since firmly stuck with this place. Here is the restaurant "Pigfoot", described in the novel. The market is long gone, there is a beautiful park where cherry blossoms bloom in the spring, couples relax on the lawns and children run around a huge stone head.

Nearby was once the cemetery of the Innocents, the remains were later moved to the Paris catacombs. But the fountain of the Innocents is the oldest in Paris, where visitors throw coins.

St. Eustache Church (eglise Saint-Eustache)

One of the most beautiful churches in Paris. Standing on this site, a small church of the early thirteenth century became too small for a large and wealthy parish of merchant corporations. Therefore, in 1532, the construction of a large church began (its length is 100 m; width is 44 m; height under the arch is 34 m).

During the construction of this Gothic in plan and design of the church, the Notre Dame Cathedral was taken as a model. Intrigued is the element of the roof in the form of a deer head (according to the legend of St. George). Eustathius saw a cross between the horns of a deer, after which he converted to Christianity. The famous organ of the Church of Saint-Estache is considered the largest organ in France, exceeding the size of the organs of the Church of Saint-Sulpice and Notre-Dame-de-Paris.

From the church begins the pedestrian street of Montergeuy, where you can see small cozy restaurants, cheese, wine, butchers and fish shops. The oldest confectionery city will not leave anyone indifferent. The Queen of England was delighted to be photographed here. When she wanted to see Paris, she was brought here.

And this street is captured in one of the paintings by Claude Monet.

The tour is conveniently combined with a walk in the Marais quarter