Musée de L’Égouts

Only in Paris would you find a museum with the following warnings:

Don’t eat anything
Don’t touch anything
No leaning
And wash your hands when you leave

You must see this museum.

The musée de l’égouts explains how Paris manages the basic element of life. From rain to drought, tap to sewage, resource to ecology, the museum is thorough on everything water for the geography of Paris.

The museum is found by taking a stairwell below ground to a working sewer (see the no touching rule). From there, you first see a collage of clippings and information related to the sewers. Around the corner, and the real tour begins.

You will learn how rainwater is drained and sent to the Seine. You will learn how wastewater is processed. You will see a working sewer in action. You will understand the history of water in Paris.

You will relive Les Misérables.

This engineering marvel fascinates. The quantity of water managed astounds. The reversal of industrial age pollution in the Seine is surprising (it has fish now, who knew?). For something so important that gets taken so for granted, it is eye-opening to see behind the scenes of our modern comfort, the tap.

The trip takes about two hours to see everything and is well worth the 4.30 Euro. The smell is not awful, but it is a sewer. Overall, the musee de l’egouts is packs plenty in two hours and leaves you plenty of time for a relaxing Parisian coffee.