A walk in the footsteps of Marguerite Duras in Paris, between anarchist revolt and places of transmission

To walk in the footsteps of Marguerite Duras in Paris is to enter her hushed apartments, breathe in the words of intellectuals, come across a plaque and find her name on a Left Bank street. Paris welcomed Marguerite Duras as a repository of passions, ideals and new writing.

His apartment on rue Saint-Benoît was the scene of conversations fueled by anarchist ideas and revolt. The commemorative plaque reminds passers-by that incandescent spirits once inhabited these walls. Beyond, the media library that bears her name, discreet but essential, links her to a future shared with young readers, while rue Marguerite-Duras nurtures its immortality in the urban plan of the Left Bank.

At each stage of this thematic tour, we recognize a proud, wounded and committed woman in search of a language capable of expressing the unspeakable.

• To be read
• Stroll in the footsteps of Juliette Gréco in Paris, between jazz clubs and intimate addresses
• A walk in Barbara's footsteps in Paris, melancholy and mythical post-war cabarets
• A walk in the footsteps of Françoise Sagan in Paris, from the Latin Quarter to fashionable Paris

• Who was Marguerite Duras? 

Novelist, playwright and explorer of the intimate, Marguerite Duras (1914-1996) is a leading figure of the 20ᵉ century. Her fame crystallized around L'Amant, her book published in 1984, which sold millions of copies and won the Prix Goncourt. His writing, a blend of autofiction, poetic concision and haunting images, gave birth to a singular, powerful style.

• In the footsteps of Marguerite Duras in Paris 

5 rue Saint-Benoît (6ᵉ arr.). In 1943, Duras moved into this apartment, where she lived and worked until her death. The place became the scene of intense intellectual life; it was here that the"groupe de la rue Saint-Benoît" met, a circle of committed thinkers and writers - including Jean Genet, Georges Bataille and Edgar Morin. A commemorative plaque was affixed to the façade in 2015.

Rue Marguerite-Duras (13ᵉ arr.). Inaugurated in 2003, this street near the Grands Moulins, close to the François-Mitterrand Library, has made a lasting mark on Parisian women's heritage. Rue Marguerite-Duras and the adjacent Place Robert-Antelme, named after her husband, reflect the institutional recognition of a couple forming two pillars of literary and political history.

La médiathèque Marguerite Duras (20ᵉ arr.). Located at 115 rue de Bagnolet, this municipal media library perpetuates the legacy of Marguerite Duras through access to culture and literature. More than a place of remembrance, this cultural establishment houses a vast musical, literary and digital collection and is a space that embodies the transmission to younger generations.