Dark side of the City of Light: the Paris sewer museum
Forget Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and French fashion. If you want to be impressed by a marvel of Parisian design, head deep underground to view 'the intestines' of the city
Sure, not everyone gets the appeal of Paris’ subterranean spectacle. I wondered if the gritty reality of Paris’ underbelly might be a little ... overpowering.
But, as tour guide Jean-Charles Pintori puts it: “They are wrong.” And in fact, tucked deep underground, the museum maintains an even temperature, and the ambience, while a little smelly in parts, is not overwhelming. In some areas, the air is quite fresh, and with the artfully lit galleries and exhibits, you almost wouldn’t know where you were.
Almost. Walking past a canal, its dark surface prettily reflecting the glow of tunnel lights, I see tiny bubbles popping on the surface, creating an effervescent sparkle. They turn out to be escaping methane gas.
Exhibits trace the history of Parisian sewerage from the Middle Ages, when streets had drains for wastewater in the middle, to the current incarnation, which got a major overhaul in the mid-19th century under the supervision of city planner extraordinaire Baron Haussmann and engineer Eugene Belgrand.
The current system is unusual in that it also includes conduits for drinking water, handles rain run-off and houses telecommunications cables.