The Montparnasse administrative quarter of the 14th stretches from boulevard du Montparnasse and boulevard de Port-Royal down to place Denfert-Rochereau and rue Froidevaux, rue Boulard and rue Daguerre, with rue de la Santé to the east and avenue du Maine and rue du Départ to the west. Boulevard Raspail and boulevard Edgar-Quinet cross it, and Montparnasse cemetery takes up a large part of it. This 14th-arrondissement side of Montparnasse is where we work.
Rue de la Gaîté, the theatre street
The street runs for under 300 metres, from 11 boulevard Edgar-Quinet to 73 avenue du Maine. It began as a country lane of Petit-Montrouge, just outside the Farmers-General wall, where drink was sold free of city tax: it was lined with Montparnasse’s open-air taverns, and takes its name from the merriment of the dance halls near the old toll gate. Today it is home to the Théâtre Montparnasse, opened in 1818, the Gaîté-Montparnasse, the Petit Montparnasse, Bobino at no. 20, the Théâtre Rive Gauche and the Comédie Italienne.
Edgar-Quinet: market and cemetery
Boulevard Edgar-Quinet links boulevard Raspail with rue du Départ. On its central strip, between rue du Départ and no. 36, the food market sets up on Wednesdays from 7am to 1.30pm and Saturdays from 7am to 2.30pm, according to the City of Paris; on Sundays it hosts the Marché de la Création arts market. The main gate of Montparnasse cemetery, opened in 1824, is at no. 3. Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Marguerite Duras and Serge Gainsbourg are buried there.
Further south, rue Daguerre, partly pedestrianised, is lined with shops, cafés and restaurants as far as avenue du Maine. Agnès Varda filmed a stretch of it in *Daguerréotypes*.
Getting there
- Gaîté station (line 13) and Edgar Quinet station (line 6)
- Raspail station (line 6) at the eastern end of boulevard Edgar-Quinet
- Gare Montparnasse, which straddles the 14th and the 15th, close by for guests arriving by train
Our post getting to the 14th covers routes from the airports and stations.
How we work here
The Wednesday and Saturday market fills the boulevard’s central strip, so we bear it in mind when timing an arrival by car or a linen drop. Arrival instructions and the digital welcome book spell out which station to use, how to get through the front door, which floor to climb to and what the building expects. For dates that matter in the Paris calendar, our dynamic pricing adjusts the rates.
To arrange a first visit, call Mohamed, our franchisee for the 14th: +33 6 50 48 85 21. You can also write to ms@yesconciergerie.com. If your home is nearer the park, the Denfert-Rochereau and Montsouris page is the one to read.
Frequently asked questions
Is rue de la Gaîté in the 14th?
Yes. It runs from boulevard Edgar-Quinet to avenue du Maine, in the Montparnasse quarter of the 14th arrondissement.
When is the Edgar-Quinet market on?
The food market runs on Wednesdays from 7am to 1.30pm and Saturdays from 7am to 2.30pm, according to the City of Paris. On Sundays the boulevard hosts the Marché de la Création.
Which stations serve rue de la Gaîté?
Gaîté station on line 13 and Edgar Quinet station on line 6.
Photo: Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
