Latin Quarter - Cluny and Sorbonne

Musee Cluny

This walk explored the Latin Quarter of Paris.  The walk began at the Cluny Art Museum.  This museum was the ruins of a medieval hotel that was built to accommodate the monks traveling to Paris.  Below the ground were the visible remains of Roman baths that date back to the second century.  The only remains of these baths are the Frigedarium, Tepidarium and Caldarium (cold, warm, and hot baths).  The architecture can be examined and analyzed though as to how things were built.  The rough versus smooth blocks of rocks were an option in the building.  Also below the floor of the baths there was a small compartment left to allow the warm air to swirl and heat the floor. 

Sorbonne

College de France

The walk also went by some universities in the Latin Quarter.  The first one was the Sorbonne.  It was founded in 1257 to train future theologians and they all studied and spoke Latin which is where the name Latin Quarter comes from.  Then it showed the Collège de France, a university founded in the sixteenth century during the reign of Francois I.  This school was intended to be a humanist alternative to the ultra conservative Sorbonne.  The school system in France is different than in the U.S..  During the high school time, the French students are put on a track that gears them toward their future career whether it is more math and science or literature based.  Then at the end of their lycée they have to take the Bac test that helps determine their schooling afterwards.  For higher education there are public universities or the more prestigious grandes écoles.   The grandes écoles are more difficult to get into but this way the French create an élite.  The French has always had a broken up class society so it is their mindset to have one.  Plus the French society is about working towards this greater good and creating a grand French society.