A Walking Tour Paris

This part of Paris takes its name from the fact that it was the centre of
the city’s education with institutes like the Sorbonne, whose students
studied and spoke in Latin – the Medieval world’s equivalent of English.
The scene of the famous student riots of 1968, the area’s proud and
ancient history of learning stretches back 800 years and can be felt in
the winding cobbled streets that stretch down to the river from the
great university colleges and lycées which have been educating the
French and international elite for centuries. The area has long been
associated with artists and intellectuals, although these have been
replaced by tourists thronging the cheap shops and fast-food outlets
that have increasingly made their home here in recent years.