"The neighborhood has lost its soul": in Paris, Boulevard Saint-Michel hit by a worrying epidemic of vacant shops

"Boulevard Saint-Michel has lost its soul," says a disillusioned Jean-Robert Pitte. The former director of the Sorbonne, who studied, worked, and lived in the Latin Quarter his entire life, makes no secret of his weariness, as bistros and bookstores have virtually disappeared from this historic axis on the Left Bank, bordering the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Today, only a few iconic addresses remain, such as the Boulinier and Gibert Jeune bookstores, the only vestiges of what this cultural district once was, a stone's throw from the famous university and its neighboring libraries. "I took my baccalaureate in 1966. At the time, it was extraordinarily lively; students went to the bistro, bought books and their clothes in the neighborhood stores," recalls the illustrious professor.

And while this decrepitude is not new, the section between Port-Royal and the Luxembourg Gardens having already lost many businesses in recent years, things seem to be accelerating...