Montparnasse and southern Paris
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Paris

The swathe of cafés, brasseries and cinemas that runs through the heart of modern Montparnasse has long been a honeypot for pleasure-seekers, a kind of border town dividing the lands of the well-heeled opinion-formers and power-brokers of St-Germain and the 7^e from the amorphous populations of the three arrondissements of southern Paris, the 13e, 14e and 15e. Overscale developments from the 1950s to the present day have scarred parts of this southern side of the city, but there are three great parks, Georges-Brassens, Montsouris and André Citroën, and some enticing pockets of Paris that have been allowed to evolve in a happily patchy way. Lively areas such as Pernety and Plaisance in the 14^e, the quartier du Commerce in the 15^e, and the Butte-aux-Cailles quartier in the 13^e are pleasant places to explore, and well off the tourist track.

For transport through the outer 15^e, 14^e and 13^e arrondissements, bus #62 plies a useful route along rues de la Convention, Alésia and Tolbiac.