As you cruise downstream on the River Seine through Paris, the Left Bank (south) of the river in the center of Paris is traditionally the lower-rent district.

The Sorbonne and other universities, colleges and institutes are here, along with student housing, cafes, clubs and shops along the boulevard Saint-Germain, around the Église de Saint-Germain des Prés, and near Place Saint-Michel. But so are lots of middle-class apartment buildings.

Perhaps the most obvious landmark for the Left Bank and Latin Quarter is the great dome of the Panthéon, rising above the buildings of the Sorbonne.