Rive Gauche' (French pronunciation:[ʁivɡoʃ];Left Bank) is the southern bank of the riverSeine inParis. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two parts. When facing downstream, the southern bank is to the left, whereas the northern bank (orRive Droite) is to the right.
The Rive Gauche is associated with artists, writers and philosophers, includingColette,Margaret Anderson,Djuna Barnes,Natalie Barney,Sylvia Beach,Erik Satie,Kay Boyle,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[1]Pablo Picasso,Arthur Rimbaud,Paul Verlaine,Henri Matisse,Jean-Paul Sartre,Ernest Hemingway,F. Scott Fitzgerald,James Baldwin,[2] and dozens of members of the great artistic community atMontparnasse.[3]
The phrase implies a sense ofbohemianism,counterculture andcreativity.[4] Some of its famous streets are theBoulevard Saint-Germain,Boulevard Saint-Michel, theRue de Vaugirard,Rue Bonaparte, and others.
TheLatin Quarter is situated on the Rive Gauche, within the5th and6th arrondissements in the vicinity of theUniversity of Paris.[5] In the 12th century, the philosopherPierre Abélard helped create the neighborhood when, due to his controversial teaching, he was pressured into relocating from the prestigiousÎle de la Cité to a less conspicuous residence. As he and his followers populated the Left Bank, it became famous for the prevalence of scholarlyLatin spoken there.[6] The area's origin story formed the basis of the saying, "Paris 'learned to think' on the Left Bank".[6]
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