As you leave rue Mouffetard and climb towards the Val-de-Grâce, Paris changes tempo. In places the streets become more residential, the large façades grow taller and students rub shoulders with families who have long known the neighbourhood's shops.
The Église du Val-de-Grâce, with its unmistakable dome, gives the area its name. Further on, the Boulevard de Port-Royal forms a lively boundary with the 14th arrondissement. Here you find wide pavements, neighbourhood cafés and a Paris less photographed than that of the Panthéon, but very pleasant to explore. Rue Claude-Bernard, rue Berthollet and rue Saint-Jacques each show a different facet of the 5th: shopping streets, educational institutions, stone buildings and small, more discreet passages.
For a sweet break, you can head to the Carl Marletti pâtisserie on rue Censier, on the edge of the area. Regulars also appreciate the shops around rue Claude-Bernard and the restaurants towards the nearby Gobelins. This is not a neighbourhood of showy rooftops: people come here rather to have dinner with friends, return to a familiar café or walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which can be reached on foot from part of the area.
The Val-de-Grâce often appeals to those who want to stay in the Latin Quarter without living in the middle of its bustle. For METROREALTY, the key is to look at the exact street: traffic on the main boulevards, overlooking buildings, light and the differences between old buildings and more recent constructions greatly change how an apartment is perceived. It is a neighbourhood best discovered on foot, without hurrying.
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