Cheap land's legacy, now "hometown Paris"

The usefulness of land on the city's fringe

•Creativity on the other side of the tracks

: Pasteur's home and museum

"Too far, too far!" groaned Pasteur...yet he settled south of the Montparnasse station on the city's fringe, because only in that ragmen's zone was land for his Institute affordable. Pasteur's home is now a museum...

: "The Beehive"

The area also attracted art-history's "Beehive", a huge bookfair and a flea market. A brilliantly-designed park replaces the slaughterhouse...

Ragpickers' legacy

The neighborhood is a "hometown Paris", where open-air markets are modestly-priced and cheerful, bistros excellent and we can even watch bread being made. Visits are best on weekend mornings, when the markets are in full swing. We can recommend a hotel...