Perhaps the city's liveliest neighborhood, the Latin Quarter is bursting with funky shops, cheap, ethnic eateries, and plenty of bohemian chic bistros. So named for its concentration of academic institutions, whose working language was Latin throughout the Middle Ages, the area is still home to thousands of students from the Sorbonne, Collège de France, école Normale Supérieure, and two campuses of the Université de Paris. As such, the neighborhood has a distinctly youthful appeal and boasts a vibrant, all-hours nightlife scene.
After soaking up the atmosphere, visitors may go to any number of sights, including the Musée-National du Moyen-Age (National Museum of the Middle Ages), the Jardin des Plantes botanical garden, and the Panthéon. This soaring temple is the final resting place of notable French figures such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo and Zola.
