The 7th arrondissement of Paris, also known as the arrondissement of Palais-Bourbon, is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. the 7th arrondissement is quaint yet sophisticated, this neighborhood deserves its reputation as one of the finest in Paris. The 7th arrondissement include some of the most well-known tourist attractions of Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Hôtel des Invalides, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, museums such as the Musée d’Orsay, Musée Rodin and the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Emblematic of Paris, the 7th arrondissement is also full of department stores.

Situated on the Rive Gauche, the 7th arrondissement is set in the heart of Paris, offering the perfect mix of the city’s grandest sites combined with the village-like atmosphere of this quintessentially Parisian neighborhood. The skyline dominated the Eiffel Tower and the golden dome of the Invalides, the 7th Arrondissement of Paris oozes privilege and charm.

Overflowing with charm and boasting an ideal central location, the 7th arrondissement is one of Paris’s most desirable neighborhoods. The 7th arrondissement is rich in monuments and history, like the Hôtel des Invalides, the Palais Bourbon, the Ecole Militaire and as a bonus, the Eiffel Tower… and the museums are also very numerous in the arrondissement: the Rodin museum, the quai Branly museum, the Orsay museum or the Maillol museum to name but a few.

The arrondissement has been home to the French upper class since the 17th century, when it became the new residence of France’s highest nobility. The district has been so fashionable within the French aristocracy that the phrase le Faubourg, referring to the ancient name of the current 7th arrondissement, has been used to describe French nobility ever since. The 7th arrondissement of Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine form the most affluent and prestigious residential area in France.

One of the safest and most prestigious areas in Paris, many dignitaries and VIPs populate this arrondissement, which includes the historical aristocratic neighbourhood of Faubourg Saint-Germain, contains a number of French national institutions, among them the National Assembly and numerous government ministries. It is also home to many foreign diplomatic embassies, some of them occupying outstanding hôtels particuliers.

The pace of life in the 7th arrondissement is relaxed, allowing you to enjoy its narrow cobbled streets, sophisticated shopping, bustling street markets, prized local shops, and charming candle-lit bistros. Nestled amongst high-profile monuments are intimate streets lined with boulangeries, delis, and fromageries that cater to the well-heeled residents of this upscale quartier.

There is a lot to discover while strolling through the 7th arrondissement, Between its large tree-lined avenues, its buildings with impressive architecture, its majestic bridges… The 7th arrondissement is full of small parks, squares and gardens that are very little frequented and almost unknown to tourists and Parisians. The pretty square Roger-Stéphane, the garden of the Oudinot clinic, the square Denys-Bühler and the garden Catherine-Labouré.

Administrative quarters
Like all Parisian arrondissements, the 7th arrondissement is divided into four administrative districts.

Quartier of Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin
The Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin district is the 25th administrative district of Paris located in the 7th arrondissement. Located at the heart of Parisian power, artistic life, encompassing the Hôtel Matignon and the Bon Marché, Sciences Po and rue de Verneuil, it is the authentic Paris, the real, the pure, the Left Bank intellectual, politico, funny, aristo… It is one of the most expensive districts of Paris. Many celebrities have made it their home.

Quartier of Invalides
The Invalides district is the 26th administrative district of Paris located in the 7th arrondissement. The district is mainly occupied by the Hotel des Invalides, This monumental 17th-century complex was commissioned by Louis XIV to offer accommodation and hospital care to the veterans of France’s wars.

Quartier of the Military School
The École-Militaire district is the 27th administrative district of Paris located south of the 7th arrondissement. This district takes its name from the Military School. It is bordered by Avenue de Saxe and Avenue de Ségur in the south, Avenue de Suffren in the south-west, Place Joffre in the north-west, Avenue de Tourville, Boulevard des Invalides and Rue de Babylone in the north, Rue Vaneau in the east and Rue de Sèvre in the south-east.

This district is known for the iconic Parisian style of views, the prestigious addresses and the reputation of the district. A lot of parquet-moulding-chimney with beautiful porches with rounded entrances and can be dating from horse-drawn carriages eras, surrounded by beautiful alabaster cut stones and enhanced by ebony wrought iron balconies, wide sidewalks, double alleys of chestnut trees, large spaces.

Quartier of Gros-Caillou
The Gros-Caillou district is the 28th administrative district of Paris, located in the 7th arrondissement. The origin of the name is probably a natural landmark, perhaps a block of stone dating back to prehistoric ages, limiting the seigneuries of Saint-Germain and Sainte-Geneviève. With the space, the wide avenues, the streets… today this large area exudes discretion and serenity.

There was a tobacco factory there in the 19th century, located on the Quai d’Orsay. Located near a tripe factory and a fire pump, it was “one of the largest factories in Paris, employing more than a thousand workers” and “one of the most important sources of pollution industrial. The factory was definitively closed in 1905.

Main Attractions
The neighborhoods of the 7th arrondissement are part of what is called the “beautiful neighborhoods” of western Paris. A district that deserves a closer look for its many treasures. The prestige of these districts is reinforced by wide tree-lined avenues and the proximity of the vast public garden of the Champ-de-Mars dominated by the Eiffel Tower. The buildings are often opulent and the population very well off.

The 7th arrondissement is a prestigious and affluent district which concentrates emblematic monuments and major museums that punctuate Parisian cultural life. Its tree- lined avenues, its wide open green spaces and its quays of the Seine offer an ideal setting for a walk. The 7th arrondissement also brings together gourmet addresses, delicatessens and high-end restaurants. A district also the most trendy luxury and fashion boutiques in the capital.

During the 17th century, French high nobility started to move from the central Marais, the then-aristocratic district of Paris where nobles used to build their urban mansions, to the clearer, less populated and less polluted Faubourg Saint-Germain. The oldest and most prestigious families of the French nobility built outstanding residences in the area, such as the Hôtel Matignon, the Hôtel de Salm, and the Hôtel Biron.

After the French Revolution many of these mansions, offering magnificent inner spaces, many reception rooms and exquisite decoration, were confiscated and turned into national institutions. The French expression “les ors de la Republique” (literally “the golds of the Republic”), referring to the luxurious environment of the national palaces (outstanding official residences and priceless works of art), comes from that time.

During the Restauration, the Faubourg recovered its past glory as the most exclusive high nobility district of Paris and was the political heart of the country, home to the Ultra Party. After the Fall of Charles X, the district lost most of its political influence but remained the center of the French upper class’ social life.

During the 19th century, the arrondissement hosted no fewer than five Universal Exhibitions (1855, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900) that have immensely impacted its cityscape. The Eiffel Tower and the Orsay building were built for these Exhibitions (respectively in 1889 and 1900).

Many official or political institutions are concentrated there. There are many ministries (including the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence and workplace of the head of government ), the National Assembly, the Hôtel des Invalides, the École militaire, the headquarters of UNESCO, the former seat of the regional council of Île-de-France and numerous embassies. In the street of Solferinowas the headquarters of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1981 to 2018. It is in this same street that formerly was also located the headquarters of the Rassemblement du peuple français (RPF) of General de Gaulle. The headquarters of the UDF and then of the MoDem is located on rue de l’Université.

Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a 330m2 high wrought iron tower located in Paris, at the northwestern end of the Champ-de-Mars park on the banks of the Seine in the 7th arrondissement. Its official address is 5, avenue Anatole-France. It has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Symbol of Paris among all, offers a magnificent view of the whole city.

Built in two years by Gustave Eiffel and his collaborators for the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889, celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution. Originally 312 meters high, the Eiffel Tower remained the highest monument in the world for forty years. The Eiffel still is the highest viewing platform accessible to the public in the European Union.

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level’s upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.

Palais Bourbon
The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the Rive Gauche of the Seine in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The original palace was built beginning in 1722 for Louise Françoise de Bourbon. It was then nationalised during the French Revolution. From 1795 to 1799, during the Directory, it was the meeting place of the Council of Five Hundred, which chose the government leaders. Beginning in 1806, during Napoleon’s French Empire, Bernard Poyet’s Neoclassical facade was added to mirror that of the Church of the Madeleine, facing it across the Seine beyond the Place de la Concorde.

The palace complex today has a floor area of 124,000 m2, with over 9,500 rooms, in which 3,000 people work. The complex includes the Hôtel de Lassay, on the west side of the Palais Bourbon; it is the official residence of the President of the National Assembly. This former princely palace resembling the Grand Trianon became, after many transformations, the seat of the French National Assembly. The building brings together paintings by Eugène Delacroix and a collection of contemporary works of art. The Assembly also uses other neighbouring buildings, including the Immeuble Chaban-Delmas on the Rue de l’Université.

Les Invalides
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. Founded in 1671 by Louis XIV as a hospital for wounded soldiers. The golden-domed Hôtel des Invalides still functions as an infirmary and now also houses the Musée de l’Armée. On the north front of Les Invalides, Hardouin-Mansart’s Dome chapel is large enough to dominate the long façade, yet harmonizes with Bruant’s door under an arched pediment. To the north, the courtyard is extended by a wide public esplanade. The church attached, l’Eglise du Dôme, houses the tomb of Napoleon.

Les Invalides containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the buildings’ original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l’Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine. The complex also includes the former hospital chapel, now national cathedral of the French military, and the adjacent former Royal Chapel known as the Dôme des Invalides, the tallest church building in Paris at a height of 107 meters.

Religious heritage
The 7th arrondissement has a number of historic and large-scale religious buildings.

Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center
Holy Trinity Cathedral and The Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center is a complex that consists of 4 buildings: the Cultural Center found on Quai Branly, an educational complex in University Street, an administrative building in Rapp Street and the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church. From an architectural point of view, it mixes the Byzantine and Russian styles: it is surmounted by five traditional bulbous bell towers made of composite material covered with matte gold, and an Orthodox cross.

Dedicated to the Holy Trinity and to “historical, cultural and spiritual relations between France and Russia”, it was inaugurated in October 2016, taking over from the Trois-Saints-Docteurs cathedral as the episcopal see. It is integrated into the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center (CSCOR), a complex which includes, in addition to the cathedral and the parish house, a cultural center (auditorium, bookstore, exhibition halls, Franco-Russian bilingual school).

Sainte-Clotilde, Paris
The Basilica of Saint Clotilde is a basilica church in Paris, located on the Rue Las Cases, in the 7th arrondissement. This neo-gothic basilica is marked by its two towers 69 meters high, it is best known for its twin spires. The interior is clear and there are stained glass windows by Thibaut (a 19th-century glassmaker), paintings by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, sculptures by James Pradier and Francisque Joseph Duret. A series of sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Claude Eugène Guillaume representing the conversion of Valerie of Limoges, her condemnation to death, decapitation and the appearance of Saint Martial.

Saint-François-Xavier, Paris
St Francis Xavier Church is a parish Roman Catholic church in the 7th arrondissement of Paris dedicated to Francis Xavier, the patron saint of missions. It contains the tomb of Madeleine Sophie Barat, a French saint of the Catholic Church and founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, a worldwide religious institute of educators.It also known for its collection of Italian Baroque and Mannerist paintings, including a work by Tintoretto.

The exterior was modelled after the Italian basilicas of the Renaissance, with the modern advantage of an iron frame hidden by the stone walls, allowing less massive walls, more interior space, and larger windows. The triangular fronton is decorated with sculpture illustrating “Saint Francois-Xavier baptising inhabitants of India and Japan.” The nave is flanked by two lower aisles lined by chapels, separated from the nave by massive pillars with Corinthian capitals. The decor of the nave is largely Neo-classical in design, with while the adjoining Chapel of the Virgin, at the east end, is decorated in Renaissance style. The iron structure of the church, hidden by the stone walls, makes possible the larger windows and abundance of light.

Cultural space
The 7th arrondissement is home to some of Paris’ best museums, several important museums are in the arrondissement, such as the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée du quai Branly, the Musée Rodin and the Musée Maillol. The only cinema in the borough is ” La Pagode ” 5, rue de Babylone. Its architecture and its garden are not lacking in picturesqueness.

Musée d’Orsay
The Musée d’Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, the rambling, open-plan museum is home to the works of the great artists of the 19th century Impressionists, post-Impressionists., Including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. painters including Berthe Morisot, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum’s opening in 1986. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe.

Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
The Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is a museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel to feature the indigenous art and cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum collection comprises more than a million objects (ethnographic objects, photographs, documents, etc.), of which 3,500 are on display at any given time, in both permanent and temporary thematic exhibits. A selection of objects from the museum are also displayed in the Pavillon des Sessions of the Louvre.

Army Museum
The Musée de l’Armée is a national military museum of France located at Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The Musée de l’Armée was created in 1905 with the merger of the Musée d’Artillerie and the Musée Historique de l’Armée. The museum’s seven main spaces and departments contain collections that span the period from antiquity through the 20th century. This museum is in the historic Invalides complex and presents the history of the French Army. A highlight is the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, which displays painstakingly accurate models of French fortresses and includes its own shop.

Legion of Honor Museum
The National Museum of the Legion of Honor and Orders of Chivalry is a French national museum of art and history devoted to orders of chivalry and merit, decorations and medals, both French and foreign. It is located in the Hôtel de Salm in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The museum occupies a modern wing erected between 1922 and 1925 on the site of the former stables of the Hôtel de Salm, overlooking the forecourt of the Musée d’Orsay. The museum presents its permanent collections on several levels.

Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as well as just outside Paris at Rodin’s old home, the Villa des Brillants at Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. The collection includes 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 old photographs and 7,000 objets d’art. The gardens around the museum building contain many of the famous sculptures in natural settings. Behind the museum building are a small lake and casual restaurant.

While living in the Villa des Brillants, Rodin used the Hôtel Biron as his workshop from 1908, and subsequently donated his entire collection of sculptures – along with paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he had acquired – to the French State on the condition that they turn the buildings into a museum dedicated to his works. The Musée Rodin contains most of Rodin’s significant creations, including The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. Many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum’s extensive garden. The museum includes a room dedicated to the works of Camille Claudel and one of the two castings of The Mature Age.

Contemporary History Museum
The Museum of Contemporary History is a department of La Contemporaine — Library, archives, museum of contemporary worlds (ex-BDIC, library of contemporary international documentation), attached to the University of Paris-Nanterre. The Museum’s collections were estimated in 2015 at approximately 1.5 million objects including approximately one million photos, 75,000 postcards, 90,000 posters, 40,000 drawings, 12,000 prints, 750 paintings as well as several thousand objects, medals, vouchers and coins, etc. Like the rest of La Contemporaine’s collections, the Museum is renowned for its unique collections in the field of European history and international relations of the 20th century and for the diversity of its collections, in particular on the two world wars.

Musée des Plans-Reliefs
The Musée des Plans-Reliefs is a museum of military models located within the Hôtel des Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. Today, 112 models are conserved by this museum, of which 15 are kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille.The museum displays 28 plans-reliefs of fortifications along the English Channel, the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, and the Pyrenees. It also contains presentations on construction and use of the plans-reliefs.

Paris Sewer Museum
The Paris Sewer Museum is a museum located in the sewers at the esplanade Habib-Bourguiba, near the pont de l’Alma. The museum details the history of the sewers from their initial development by Hugues Aubriot, provost of Paris in the late 14th century, to their modern structure, which was designed in the 19th century by the engineer Eugène Belgrand. The museum also details the role of sewer workers and methods of water treatment. This fascinating place which inspired the book, The Phanton of the Opera.

Public Spaces
With its wide avenues, its many green spaces and its banks of the Seine, the 7th arrondissement is a calm and relaxing place to stroll throughout the day.

Banks of the Seine
Follow the beautiful Quais past some of the most beautiful monuments and landmarks of Paris, past the Eiffel, the Pont Alexandre III, Invalides, the Grand Palais on the Right Bank to the Musee’ d’Orsay, Musee’ de la Monaie, Louvres, Notre Dame and Ile St. Louis. The banks of the river allow you to stroll while enjoying the many barges/restaurants, stalls and entertainment taking place at the water’s edge. Sunrise or sunset along the river is simply unforgettable.

Champ de Mars
The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius (“Mars Field”) in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war. The Champ-de-Mars park extends over more than 24 hectares. Bordered by the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire, this entirely open green space offers large lawns ideal for picnicking. It regularly becomes the setting for festive and sporting events and major national events.

Esplanade des Invalides
The huge Esplanade des Invalides which unrolls its green carpet from the Hôtel National des Invalides to the banks of the Seine where you can admire the majestic Alexandre III bridge.

Esplanade Jacques-Chaban-Delmas
The Jacques-Chaban-Delmas esplanade is a road located in the École-Militaire district of the 7th arrondissement of Paris. This road, which was previously part of Place El Salvador corresponding to the central reservation of Avenue de Breteuil.

Rue Saint-Dominique
Rue St-Dominique is the spine of the 7th Arrondissement, arcing through the quartier and connecting three of its iconic monuments — from Musée d’Orsay in east, passing by Hotel des Invalides, and ending up at Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower in the west. Along its curved length you find the places where local residents shop and eat, boulangeries and patisseries, clothing boutiques, fruit & vegetable vendors, a string of good restaurants and bistros.

Catherine-Labouré Garden
The Catherine-Labouré garden is a green space in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, in the Invalides, École-Militaire and Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin districts. Hidden behind its high walls, this former nuns’ vegetable garden is shaded by an arbor, planted with vines and many fruit trees. There is a vegetable garden and games for children. This garden with grapevines and ornamental berries was the potager of the convent of the Daughters of Charity since 1633 and has been open to the public since 1977. There is a community garden along with an arbor-covered pathway. Since the 2000s, the garden has provided access, at the bottom, to the former vegetable garden of the hospice des Incurables, now Laennec hospital.

Gourment
The 7th arrondissement brings together many gourmet addresses. Paris’ elegant center famous for its fine selection of restaurants and food stores. Experience life as the Parisians do by shopping daily at the local bakeries and patisseries, fruit and vegetable shops, butchers, cheese shops, and small supermarkets.

The 7th is home to rue Cler, one of the most famous streets for food in Paris, and the perfect place to start learning the fine art of Parisian living. Walk along the colorful street and enjoy the mouth-watering displays and divine aromas that come spilling out of every little shop. Walk by without stopping at one of the patisseries to admire the jewel-like displays of tempting desserts.

Rue du Bac, the Angelina shop offers chocolates, teas and other confectionery while the Chocolaterie Foucher, has been making assortments of chocolates in the traditional way for six generations. Ryst Duperyon with great vintages and high-end spirits. Beaupassage brings together, boulevard Raspail, shops and restaurants run by the most famous names in gastronomy: Thierry Marx, Pierre Hermé, Anne-Sophie Pic or even the Barthélemy cheese dairy.

Seafood enthusiasts can revel in the Divellec house. Petrossian, meanwhile, offers a cuisine thought out around caviar and salmon. Arpège, the three-star restaurant of chef Alain Passard, located rue de Varenne will delight lovers of French cuisine. For a more popular atmosphere, go to rue Cler with its bistros, grocery stores, craft shops and caterers.

The 7th arrondissement is famous for its excellent cafés and restaurants. Parisians love to stop here for a quick bite, to catch up on the news or meet friends.

There are more open markets in the 7th arrondissement than anywhere else in Paris. Markets are the ideal spots to assemble the ultimate French picnic, or select the freshest ingredients to prepare at your ParisPerfect apartment.

Shopping
The 7th arrondissement filled with beautiful shops around every corner, offers long shopping streets and avenues where the biggest brands and stores rub shoulders. Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, a veritable temple of commerce, brings together the most beautiful luxury and fashion brands in the capital. The rue de Grenelle and its many luxury boutiques are an essential stop to dream in front of high-end fashion items. The unique location Ave. Montaigne and Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré as well as the new left bank designers off Boulevard St. Germain. Le Bon Marché, Paris’ oldest and most stylish department store. Inside you’ll rub elbows with well-dressed Parisians surrounded by the best designer fashions.