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{{Short description|Part of Paris, France, delimited by the Seine river}}
{{for|the neighbourhood in the 13th arrondissement of Paris|Paris Rive Gauche}}
[[File:Par Arr.svg|right|thumb|The [[Arrondissements of Paris|''arrondissements'' of Paris]] with the river [[Seine]] bisecting the city. The Rive Gauche is the southern part.]]
The '''Rive Gauche''' ({{IPA|fr|riv ɡoʃ}}; Left Bank) is the southern bank of the river [[Seine]] in [[Paris]]. Here the river flows roughly westward, splitting the city into two parts. When facing downstream, the southern bank is to the left, whereas the northern bank (or [[Rive Droite]]) is to the right.

The Rive Gauche is associated with artists, writers, and philosophers including [[Colette]], [[Margaret C. Anderson|Margaret Anderson]], [[Djuna Barnes]], [[Natalie Clifford Barney|Natalie Barney]], [[Sylvia Beach]], [[Erik Satie]], [[Kay Boyle]], [[Bryher (novelist)|Bryher]], [[Caresse Crosby]], [[Nancy Cunard]], [[H.D.]], [[Janet Flanner]], [[Jane Heap]], [[Maria Jolas]], [[Mina Loy]], [[Henry Miller]], [[Adrienne Monnier]], [[Anaïs Nin]], [[Jean Rhys]], [[Gertrude Stein]], [[Alice B. Toklas]], [[Renee Vivien]], [[Edith Wharton]]<ref>[[Shari Benstock]], ''Women of the Left Bank'', 1986</ref> [[Pablo Picasso]], [[Arthur Rimbaud]], [[Paul Verlaine]], [[Henri Matisse]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], [[James Baldwin]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Washington|first=Ellery|title=James Baldwins's Paris|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/travel/james-baldwins-paris.html?_r=0|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> and dozens of members of the great artistic community at [[Montparnasse]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Mills|first=Ian|title=Hemingway's Paris – Part 2|url=http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Paris_Hemingway2.shtml|publisher=Discover France|access-date=28 February 2013}}</ref> The phrase implies a sense of [[bohemianism]], [[counterculture]], and [[creativity]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Noel|first=Josh|title=Left Bank vs. Right: A tale of two cities|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-trav-paris-main-0412apr12,0,3450493.story|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=28 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314124427/http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-trav-paris-main-0412apr12,0,3450493.story|archive-date=14 March 2013}}</ref> Some of its famous streets are the [[Boulevard Saint-Germain]], [[Boulevard Saint-Michel]], the [[Rue de Vaugirard]], and [[Rue Bonaparte]].

The [[Latin Quarter, Paris|Latin Quarter]] is situated on the Rive Gauche, within the [[5th arrondissement of Paris|5th]] and [[6th arrondissement of Paris|6th]] arrondissements in the vicinity of the [[University of Paris]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Paris/The-Invalides#ref364908 |title=Paris {{!}} Definition, Points of Interest, Facts, & History – The Invalides |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2018-01-26 |language=en}}</ref> In the 12th century, the philosopher [[Peter Abelard|Peter Abélard]] helped create the neighborhood when due to his controversial teaching, he was pressured into moving from the prestigious [[Île de la Cité]] to a less conspicuous residence. As he and his followers populated the Left Bank, it became famous for the prevalence of scholarly [[Medieval Latin|Latin]] spoken there.<ref name="Horne">{{Cite book |title=La Belle France |last=Horne |first=Alistair |author-link=Alistair Horne |year=2004 |publisher=Vintage |location=USA |isbn=9781400034871 |page=18 }}</ref> The area's origin story formed the basis of the saying, "Paris 'learned to think' on the Left Bank."<ref name="Horne" />

== See also ==
* [[Arrondissements of Paris]]
* [[Bank (geography)]]
* [[Rive Droite]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Baxter, John.  ''Montparnasse: Paris's District of Memory and Desire'' (2017)
*[[Shari Benstock|Benstock, Shari]]. ''Women of the Left Bank: Paris, 1900–1940'' (1986)
*Lottman, Herbert R.  ''The Left Bank: Writers, Artists, and Politics from the Popular Front to the Cold War'' (1982)
*Muir, Kate.  ''Left Bank'' (2006)
*Poirier, Agnes.  ''Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940–50'' (2018)
*Webster, Paul. ''Saint-Germain-des-Pres''  (1984)
*Weiss, Andrea. ''Paris Was a Woman: Portraits of the Left Bank'' (2013)

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Left Bank}}
*[https://www.parisdigest.com/map_paris/map_paris_left_bank.htm "Left Bank Paris'] at ''Paris Digest''

{{coord missing|France}}

{{Visitor attractions in Paris}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Geography of Paris]]
[[Category:River Seine]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Paris]]

{{Paris-geo-stub}}