Quatre-Septembre: station history
Served by: metro line 3.
Did you know?
In the 2nd arrondissement, under rue du Quatre-Septembre, the line 3 station opened three weeks after the first section, put into service on 19 October 1904; until then, trains ran through without stopping. Its name commemorates the proclamation of the Third Republic: it is the first station on the network whose name recalls a symbolic date, joined in 1987 by La Courneuve - 8 Mai 1945. The RER A tunnel runs under the station. Its entrance, at the corner of rue de Choiseul and rue Monsigny, is decorated with a protected Guimard edicule (order of 29 May 1978, renewed on 12 July 2016).
Anecdote
The platforms, modernised like a third of the stations between 1974 and 1984, are olive-green Andreu-Motte style, with two light ramps and original benches in flat green tiling. For an April Fool's joke, the RATP renamed it « Premier Avril » (April Fool's Day) for a day. The song « Station Quatre Septembre », written by Benjamin Biolay and sung by Vanessa Paradis on the album « Love Songs », seems to evoke it.
Audio guide
Le Drouant, the table of literary judges
Here, we do not judge the dishes: we judge the novels. 📚
At 16-18 Place Gaillon, the Drouant restaurant opened in 1880. Since 1914, the ten jurors of the Prix Goncourt have met there on the first Tuesday of each month, in the Salon Goncourt. Co-opted and appointed for life, they are volunteers: their only "remuneration" is covered at Drouant.
The Renaudot Prize was born here in 1926. Journalists, awaiting the verdict of the Goncourt, create their own prize, named after Théophraste Renaudot, founder of La Gazette (1631)... and settle in another salon, next door!
Every autumn, the name of the winner of the Goncourt is announced from the grand staircase, in front of a crowd of journalists. The price? A cheque for only €10... but a success in bookstores almost guaranteed.
Admire the Ruhlmann staircase, an Art Deco gem, and the quotes of the ten jurors written on the walls for the centenary of the prize, in 2014. The place also made its cinema: a scene from Le Corniaud (1965) was filmed there.
Around Quatre-Septembre
- Bibliothèque nationale Richelieu, 260 m away — The BnF's historic site in Cardinal Mazarin's former palace: Mansart's Mazarin Gallery (1644-1646), the Labrouste Room (1861-1868) and the Oval Room, reopened in 2022 with free access.
- Passage Choiseul, 190 m away — Built in 1826-1827 from a design by François Mazois, completed by Antoine Tavernier, it is the longest covered passage in Paris: 190 m long and 3.7 m wide. Céline lived here as a child, and the Bouffes-Parisiens theatre has its entrance here.
- Opéra Garnier, 400 m away — A sumptuous opera house opened in 1875, famous for its monumental staircase and ceiling painted by Chagall.
- Place de la Bourse, 400 m away — A square lined by the Palais Brongniart, the former Paris Stock Exchange.