The Hôtel de la Monnaie is built on the QUAI DE CONTI, on the corner of Rue Guénégaud. This former Hôtel de Conti was presented to the Crown by the City of Paris under Louis XV. The superb double staircase and the Numismatic Museum should be seen. Further along, on the same Quai, stood the famous Tour de Nesles, mentioned by Alexandre Dumas. Its place has since taken by the left wing of the Institut.

The Palais de l'lnstitut is the seat of five Academies; the Academie française (the oldest), created by Richelieu (1635). Inscriptions and Belles Lettres (1644), Sciences (1666), Beaux Arts (1816), Sciences Morales et Politiques (1832). A bequets from Mazarin helped to built the « Palais ». It was begun in 1663, and completed in 1688. It was originaly designed as a college where sixty students from four different countries would assemble, and was known as the « Collège des Quatre Nations »; it was given over to the Institut by Napoléon in 1805. The plans for the Palace were drawn by Le Vau, and its most striking feature is the Cupola, symbol of the Académie Française. In the central building are a Jesuit Chapel and the Mazarin Library, containing the Mazarin collection. The session rooms especialy the one reserved for the more solemn occasions, under the Cupola, are richly decorated with paintings and sculpture (Houdon's Voltaire).