Musee Grevin: France

The Musee Grevin is a waxwork museum in Paris with some 500 characters arranged in scenes from the history of France and modern life.

It was here that the first nimated film was shown (see Charles-Emile Reynaud).

Musee des Egouts de Paris: France

Le Musee des Egouts de Paris, or the Paris Sewer Museum, is dedicated to the famous sewer system of Paris.

The sewer system is quoted in Les Miserables (Jean Valjean; Book II, ch.1): “…Paris has another Paris under herself; a Paris of sewers; which has its streets, its crossings, its squares, its blind alleys, its arteries, and its circulation, which is slime, minus the human form.” Tours of the sewage system are have been popular since the 1800s.

Museum of Eroticism: France

The Musee de l’Erotisme or the Museum of Eroticism is a museum devoted to the erotic art collections of antique dealer Alain Plumey and French teacher Jo Khalifa. Founded in 1998 at 72 Place de Clichy, the museum is situated in the Pigalle district of Paris, France. The collection ranges from the ancient religious art of India, Japan and Africa right up to contemporary art with an erotic focus. There are five floors, including a basement exhibition.

Catacombs of Paris: France

The Catacombs of Paris is a famous burial place in Paris, France. It is a network of subterranean chambers and galleries that is located in what were Roman-era limestone quarries. The quarries were converted into a mass tomb near the end of the 18th century. It is most widely known as “the catacombs”, but the official title is “les carrieres de Paris” or “the quarries of Paris.”

History

Burial use in the depleted quarries was established in 1786 by the order of Monsieur Thiroux de Crosne, Lt. General of Police, and by Monsieur Guillaumot, Inspector General of Quarries. At the time, the Les Halles district in the middle of the city was suffering from disease resulting from contamination caused by improper burials and mass graves in churchyard cemeteries, especially the large Cimetiere des Innocents. It was decided to discreetly remove the bones and place them in the abandoned quarries.

Remains from the cemetery of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs were among the first to be moved. Bodies of the dead from the riots in the Place de Greve, the Hotel de Brienne, and Rue Meslee were put in the catacombs on August 28 and 29, 1788.

The chamber walls are covered in graffiti from the 18th century onwards. In the 19th century, there is evidence that some families even lived in the catacombs. Victor Hugo used his knowledge about the tunnel system in his novel Les Miserables. In 1871 communards killed a group of monarchists in one chamber. During World War II, Parisian members of the French Resistance used the tunnel system. Also during this period, German soldiers established an underground bunker in the catacombs below the 14eme arrondissement for their own use. (This bunker is not in the tourist route and can only be seen during “Unofficial Visits” see below.)

The underground tunnels and chambers have long posed problems to the safety of constructions in Paris. Quarries sometimes collapse, occasionally resulting in a hole above the ground and causing damage to buildings. To prevent this, the IGC, Inspection generale des Carrieres (General Inspection of the Quarries) was established in 1777 by the government in order to monitor the current quarries and prohibit the digging of new quarries. Small observation tunnels were dug in order to be able to give access to IGC inspectors to quarries to be monitored and the tunnels and quarries were consolidated.
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Carnavalet Museum: France

The vast Carnavalet Museum, devoted to the history of Paris, occupies two adjoining mansions. They include entire decorated rooms with panelling, furniture and many works of art.

The main building, The Hotel Carnavalet, was built as a town house in 1548 by Nicolas Dupuis. The 17th century Hotel le Peletier was added to the museum in 1989 to contain the larger part of the museum’s 20th century interiors.

Some particulary interesting exhibits are:
Madame de Sevigne’s Gallery;
The 20th century, Ballroom of the Hotel de Wendel;
The Charles Le Brun Ceiling and;
The Hotel d’Uzes Reception Room
Robespierre’s final Letter

Musee de l’Armee Museum: France

The Musee de L’Armee is a museum at Les Invalides in Paris, France. Originally built as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers by Louis XIV, it now houses the Tomb of Napoleon and the museum of the Army of France. The museum’s collections cover the time period from antiquity until the 20th century.

The museum was established in 1905 in the prestigious setting of the Hotel national des Invalides. It holds 500,000 artifacts, including weapons, armour, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings, exhibited in an area of 12,000 m². The permanent collections are organized into “historical collections”, representing a chronological tour from ancient times through the end of World War II.
The museum is open daily except January 1st, May 1st, November 1st, and Christmas.