Maubert-Mutualité: station history
Served by: metro line 10.
Did you know?
A line 10 station in the 5th arrondissement, under boulevard Saint-Germain, west of place Maubert, between Cluny - La Sorbonne and Cardinal Lemoine. It opened with the extension of line 10 from Odéon to Place d'Italie, part of which was transferred to line 7 the following year. The name of place Maubert is said to come either from Aubert, second abbot of Sainte-Geneviève, or from Albert the Great; the station also takes the name of the Maison de la Mutualité, a nearby multi-purpose hall.
Anecdote
From 1930 to 1931, the station was operated commercially with line 10 ending at Porte de Choisy, via a double-track connection with line 7, now unused. Its scenography, by Bernard Baissait and his graphic design agency, includes two parallel tubes of flashing orange-yellow light that follow the curve of the vault above the tracks. A scene of « Archimède le clochard » was shot there, and Jean Ferrat mentions it in « Regarde-toi Paname » (1961).
Audio guide
The Silver Tower and its legendary blood duck
It all began, it is said, in 1582 under Henri III: a certain Rourteau opened an inn on the Quai de la Tournelle, facing Notre-Dame. The Tour d 'Argent proclaims itself from "the oldest restaurant in Paris", and the date is engraved on its doors. She even claims that Henry IV would have tasted a pie of heron there.
His true legend was born in 1890. Frédéric Delair, butler turned owner, numbers each duck in the press, pressed before the customer's eyes. The first million was reached in April 2003, and each guest left with their certificate!
At the top, the view embraces the Seine, Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame, while 320,000 bottles sleep in the cellar. A setting so cinematic that it has been nicknamed "the restaurant of Ratatouille".
Around Maubert-Mutualité
- Musée de Cluny, 300 m away — Housed in the mansion of the abbots of Cluny, built in the late 15th century, next to Gallo-Roman baths, the museum holds the La Dame à la licorne tapestry series and Romanesque and Gothic sculptures.
- La Tour d'Argent, 550 m away — A historic restaurant overlooking the Seine, claiming origins dating back to 1582 and famous for its numbered duck dish served since 1890.
- Shakespeare and Company, 300 m away — A famous English-language bookshop founded in 1951, a hub of Parisian literary life facing Notre-Dame.
- Institut du Monde Arabe, 600 m away — A cultural centre with an iconic modern architecture, its south façade inspired by traditional mashrabiya screens.