Les Égouts (the Sewers)

Les Égouts (the Sewers) Review

Leave it to Paris to make even the sewers romantic. Part exhibit but mostly, well, sewer, this 1,650-foot stretch of tunnels is a fascinating—and surprisingly nonsmelly—look at the underbelly of Paris. Complete with street signs mirroring those above ground, visitors can walk the so-called galleries of this city beneath the city. Walkways flank tunnels of whooshing drain water (wastewater is channeled separately in pipes) that are wide enough to allow narrow barges to dredge sand and sediment. Lighted panels, photos, and explanations in English detail the workings of the 1,300 miles of sewers. Immortalized as the escape routes of the Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, in real life the 19th-century sewers have a florid history. Since Napoléon ordered the underground network built to clean up the squalid streets, the sewers have played a role in every war, secreting revolutionaries and spies and their stockpiles of weapons. Grenades from World War II were recovered not far from where the gift shop now sits. The display cases of stuffed rat toys and "Eau de Paris" glass carafes fold into the walls when the water rises after heavy rains. Buy your ticket at the kiosk on the Left Bank side of the Pont de l'Alma and allow 30 minutes for your visit. Guided tours by friendly égoutiers (sewer workers) are available on request, but in French only.