Sewers of Paris
Never read Les Miserables? Then you might not realise how important the French sewer system is! Now open as a tourist attraction, you can take a guided tour in the most famous, and one of the oldest, sewer system in the world. There is even an underground museum where you can learn all about it!
Yes, that’s right folks. One of Paris’s top tourist attractions are the sewers but please don’t get any funny ideas now. The French look at their sewers differently than us mainly due to their historical influence on the city of Paris to this very day.
I find it a bit hard to believe but Paris has opened their sewers to the public as part of their tourism attraction ever since 1867! It was so popular by the end of the 19th century that small mechanical locomotives were outfitted to cater for the growing number of tourists. It was later replaced by boats and trolleys. It was believed that the Paris sewer trolleys gave way to the idea of the subway system now common everywhere in the world.
Nowadays of course, all the past trolleys and boats are all gone and Paris has organized an even better attraction to showcase their historical sewers. The Musée des égouts de Paris or the Paris Sewers Museum! It is located in the sewers (where else!) right under the Quai d’Orsay (refer to our interactive map).
In a sense, I can understand why Paris is so proud of their sewers. It is their personal testimony of success in providing comfort and public health safety to the community. Then again, a sewer would always be a sewer. Don’t expect Paris sewers to be any different than yours back home. They stink! So, enjoy their exotic aromatic heritage while you’re down there.
Article and author credits
Saidul A Shaari is the principal and founder of Sahabatul Ventures Holy CoW!, specializing in providing non-biased reviews on many wonderful places in the world today. An enterprising business individual who turn half ideas into real money making opportunities. Loves traveling all over the world and would very much like to share his thoughts and experiences with anyone on the globe!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saidul_A_Shaari