“THE LATIN QUARTER”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 May 1938, Page 9

“THE LATIN QUARTER”

FAMOUS PARIS DISTRICT SOUVENIRS OF THE PAST Many visitors to Paris wonder how that quarter of Paris, famous for its thousands of students, came by its name of the Latin quarter. The Latin quarter lies on the left bank of the Seine, opposite the cathedral of NotreDame, and spreads up to the height on which the Pantheon stands, its centre being the famous Sorbonne university, attended by students from all parts of the world. This university, one of the oldest in Europe, was wellknown in the Middle Ages, and as its students even then were not only French, but of all nationalities, Latin was the common language of instruction. Hence the name “the Latin quarter.”

Students ever have been known for their gaiety, and those of the Latin quarter of today are no exception. But the students of old would brook no outsiders, and when one did get among them and join in their revels, he was quickly discovered by his inability to speak Latin, when he was unceremoniously ejected, not by the door, but by the window. If less boisterous than in the latter half of last century, the students today are none the less a merry crowd, and when the hours of study are over, they may be seen crowding the cafes of the boulevard St Michel and neighbourhood. though heavy drinking is unknown. Occasionally they play their practical jokes, occasionally demonstrate noisily against some professor or other, but rarely give the police any more trouble than a request to move on.

The Latin quarter is full of interesting monuments and souvenirs of the past. A Rue des Anglais and a Rue des Irlandais commemorate the days when English and Irish students were numerous. The College of Ste Barbe, close by the Pantheon, claims as one of its students of 1577 the famous scholar James Crichton, the “Admirable Crichton.”

Next to the Pantheon is the Bibliotheque St Genevieve, on the exterior wall of which are inscribed the names of the great philosophers and writers of the world, among the English names being those of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, Locke, Newton and Darwin. I

The students of today have little inclination for the dancing halls, which have almost entirely disappeared, thenplaces taken by cinemas. There are one of two cabarets in the Latin quarter, but these, too, seem rather to be favoured by the visitor than the student. One of these, Les Oubliettes, is below ground, just behind the church of St Julien Le Pauvre, where after descending a flight of winding steps the visitor finds himself in a long cellar. On a small stage there are six performers and a piano to entertain him. But the Oubliettes has a tradition, almost a mission, for here only the songs of France of the past are sung, one evening devoted to soldiers' songs, another to sea chanteys, another to songs praising wine, and another to songs of the Revolution.