The Atlas Obscura Guide To

Paris

128 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Paris, France

Unusual
Attractions
in Paris

Catacombes de Paris.

Catacombes de Paris

The Catacombs hold secrets much stranger than the bones stacked within them.

48.8343, 2.3322

Vampire Killing Kit

Museum of Vampires and Legendary Creatures

The macabre collection of Jacques Sirgent, an expert scholar on the undead and all of their trappings.

48.8756, 2.4144

Added by Laetitia Barbier

59 Rivoli in 2005.

59 Rivoli

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.

48.8592, 2.3458

Added by Allison

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.

48.8594, 2.3910

Added by meelar

Inside a tunnel

Petite Ceinture

Abandoned railway line circling the city of Paris.

48.8350, 2.2851

Added by Allison

Front of the house

House of Nicolas Flamel

The oldest stone house in Paris was built by its most famous alchemist.

48.8635, 2.3531

Added by Allison

Shakespeare and Company

This bookstore serves double duty as the "Tumbleweed Hotel."

48.8526, 2.3471

Added by Madiha Bataineh

Museum of the History of Medicine

One of the oldest medical collections in Europe focusing on rare surgical instruments.

48.8512, 2.3408

Added by Allison

See All 128 Things to Do in Paris See All 128 Places

Unique
Food & Drink
in Paris

Aligot

Gastro Obscura

Aligot

These extra-cheesy potatoes resemble decadent fondue.

Gastro Obscura

Added by rachelrummel

Floating Island

Gastro Obscura

Floating Island

The 17th-century dessert plants an isle of meringue in a sea of custard.

Gastro Obscura

Added by Anne Ewbank

Vin Mariani

Gastro Obscura

Vin Mariani

Presidents and popes loved this cocaine-infused wine.

Gastro Obscura

Added by rachelrummel

Are we missing a unique food or drink in Paris?

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Recent Paris Activity

prometheus1706 has been to Musée Curie

prometheus1706 has been to Statue of Liberty, Pont de Grenelle

tracy09124 wants to go to Catacombes de Paris

gertvr wants to go to Gustave Eiffel's Secret Apartment

readthroughlife wants to go to Lines of Cremains at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Stories
About Paris

A rat enjoying life in Paris's Parc de Bercy.

One District in Paris Is Creating a Map of Rat Sightings

The rodent map marks reports of animals both dead and alive.

by Sarah Laskow

A Guinea baboon in the Paris zoo.

50 Escaped Baboons Shut Down a Paris Zoo

Precisely how they got out remains a mystery.

by Natasha Frost

January 26, 2018

Experts confirmed that <em>Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry</em> (1886) was sketched by Vincent van Gogh.

Found: Two New Drawings by Vincent van Gogh

Sketches of Montmartre by the elusive Dutch Postimpressionist.

by Vittoria Traverso

January 16, 2018

A corpse is carried out through the morgue, c. 1840s.

Death as Entertainment at the Paris Morgue

In the late 19th century, tourists flocked to see bodies and guess how they got there.

by Michael Waters

January 11, 2018

A 19th-century engraving of the Marquis de Sade, whose works were as political as they were pornographic.

The Manuscript of '120 Days of Sodom' Has Been Declared a National Treasure

A nation embraces the Marquis de Sade's controversial masterpiece.

by Natasha Frost

December 18, 2017

New York's Times Square was home to a number of these adult movie theaters, many of which were closed during the AIDs epidemic.

The Little Death of the Adult Movie Theater

The final erotic cinema in Paris is closing its doors after over 40 years.

by Natasha Frost

December 04, 2017

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's "Monument des Aéronautes" once stood proudly in the Porte des Ternes.

France's Lost Pigeon-and-Balloon Memorial Is Well Worth Remembering

The statue—made by the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty—paid tribute to a flock of 19th-century war heroes.

November 16, 2017

A Parisian inspects mushrooms growing in the tunnels underneath the city.

The Secret History of Paris's Catacomb Mushrooms

In the 1800s, farmers cultivated mushrooms in abandoned quarries underneath the French capital.

by Emily Monaco

October 31, 2017

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