Exploring the Sewers of Paris
I am always on the look out for the unusual or out-of-the-way things to do in a city like Paris. I love the Louvre, the d'Orsay and many of the typical places, but it is always fun and exciting to find something very different.
Yesterday, I was going to visit the new Musée du Quai Branly with its African, American, Asian(and more) collections. The line was too long so I will do that today. (Watch for the post.)
But walking along the river toward Notre Dame, I noticed an exit seemingly coming out of no where. At first, I thought it must be an emergency exit from the RER station but as I walked on I noticed a small kiosk and a group of people in line. "What could that be," I thought to myself.
As I ogled the crowd and the kiosk, I saw the word 'égouts'. Scanning my mental French dictionary, I could not recall this word. So I dug into my sachel and fished out my paper dictionary: sewers.
Sewers? This is a tour of the sewers? Intriguing. Perhaps disgusting, but intriguing, nonetheless. After all, how many ruined Roman sewers, aqueducts, baths and more had I explored. What made a modern sewer so much different. Well, there is the potential presence of actual waste!
In any case, I was intrigued and bought the ticket (only €4) and descended the first set of stairs.
Now, I have always been fascinated by what lies below. Just think of the miles of tunnels underlying a major metropolitan city. There are sewers, subways, parking areas, and more. Just by going to the metro, one descends any number of years into the past.
The Musée des Égouts has got to be one of the least visited but most fascinating museums in Paris. Situated on the left bank side of the Pont de l'Alma (Place de la Résistance), the museum is easily missed. There is a sign indicating its presence, but it is a bit overwhelmed by the roadway directional signs pointing to Invalides, Charles de Gaulle-Étoile and a plethora more.
That the museum is not busy gives you ample time to wonder about how fresh water gets to the city and how waste water gets out. And you can take your time reading the informational panels and looking at the equipment used to keep the sewers clean.
There is a lot here, but perhaps the two most interesting things to me were: 1) that there is a communicating tunnel under the Seine that takes waste water from the Left Bank to the Right Bank; and, 2) that until the Middle Ages drinking water was taken from the Seine.
Ok, there is one more interesting point: Victor Hugo has Jean Valjean carry the body of Marius through the sewers. Makes me want to read Les Misérables again.
Paris page
History of Sewers (more interesting page, with pictures)
Tom
Yesterday, I was going to visit the new Musée du Quai Branly with its African, American, Asian(and more) collections. The line was too long so I will do that today. (Watch for the post.)
But walking along the river toward Notre Dame, I noticed an exit seemingly coming out of no where. At first, I thought it must be an emergency exit from the RER station but as I walked on I noticed a small kiosk and a group of people in line. "What could that be," I thought to myself.
As I ogled the crowd and the kiosk, I saw the word 'égouts'. Scanning my mental French dictionary, I could not recall this word. So I dug into my sachel and fished out my paper dictionary: sewers.
Sewers? This is a tour of the sewers? Intriguing. Perhaps disgusting, but intriguing, nonetheless. After all, how many ruined Roman sewers, aqueducts, baths and more had I explored. What made a modern sewer so much different. Well, there is the potential presence of actual waste!
In any case, I was intrigued and bought the ticket (only €4) and descended the first set of stairs.
Now, I have always been fascinated by what lies below. Just think of the miles of tunnels underlying a major metropolitan city. There are sewers, subways, parking areas, and more. Just by going to the metro, one descends any number of years into the past.
The Musée des Égouts has got to be one of the least visited but most fascinating museums in Paris. Situated on the left bank side of the Pont de l'Alma (Place de la Résistance), the museum is easily missed. There is a sign indicating its presence, but it is a bit overwhelmed by the roadway directional signs pointing to Invalides, Charles de Gaulle-Étoile and a plethora more.
That the museum is not busy gives you ample time to wonder about how fresh water gets to the city and how waste water gets out. And you can take your time reading the informational panels and looking at the equipment used to keep the sewers clean.
There is a lot here, but perhaps the two most interesting things to me were: 1) that there is a communicating tunnel under the Seine that takes waste water from the Left Bank to the Right Bank; and, 2) that until the Middle Ages drinking water was taken from the Seine.
Ok, there is one more interesting point: Victor Hugo has Jean Valjean carry the body of Marius through the sewers. Makes me want to read Les Misérables again.
Paris page
History of Sewers (more interesting page, with pictures)
Tom
Labels: History
posted by Tom - Ubiquity International at 1:39 AM Permalink
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