If you are searching in Paris number 1, 5, 12, 20 or even 32 of rue de Rennes, stop now, you will never find it ! Indeed, this street begins by the number… 41.
The creation of the Rue de Rennes was decided at the time of the Haussmann works. The aim was to facilitate the access the the old Montparnasse station, inaugurated in 1852. It is therefore planned to drill a large road that would go from the train station to the Seine.
The first stretch from the train station to rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs is made in 1854, the second to Boulevard Saint-Germain in 1868. It is here that the you can see the n°41 of the street, leading to the church of Saint-Germain-des-Près.
Because of the complexity and the cost of the project (it consisted of cutting the Institut de France and the Monnaie de Paris!), the last stretch was never completed. That’s why there is no number before the 41!