Paris is the CITY OF LIGHT, CITY OF LOVE AND CAPITAL OF FASHION. There are many cultural, architectural and social elements that tourists and even Parisians don’t know about. Here’s a list of 10 THINGS that I’m sure will blow your mind WHICH YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNEW ABOUT.
1.
THE MOST POPULAR MUSEUM
The Louvre museum is the world’s most popular museum, welcoming around 9 millions visitors every year. Its popularity is partly due to its LUXURY and its great variety of pieces of art. The museum lists a total of 460,000 pieces, but “only” 35,000 are shown to the public. It is the biggest collection on the planet. If you wanted to see every artwork, for just 30 seconds each, it would take you 35 days.2.
THE MOST VISITED MONUMENT
The Eiffel Tower is not the most visited monument of Paris! Indeed, the “Iron Lady” is only ranked fourth among the most prized by tourists. The cathedral Notre-Dame ranks first, followed by the Sacré-Coeur Basilica and the Louvre Museum. Notre-Dame welcomes more than 12 million visitors per year, while the Eiffel Tower “only” has 7 million people visiting it. Well, after the fire; Eiffel Tower could take the spot but yet it is beautiful.3.
WORLD'S BIGGEST SUNDIAL
Erected at Place de la Concorde, it originally took center stage in front of the Luxor temple in Egypt back then, before being offered to France by the vice-king Mehemet Ali to Charles X in 1830. But did you know that, apart from its symbolic function in marking the Franco-Egyptian friendship, it is also used as a sundial? Actually, the Place de la Concorde is crossed by lines with Roman numerals written on them. Throughout the day, the shadow of the obelisk gives you the time.4.
ONE AND ONLY STOP SIGN
To drive in Paris is often seen as an ordeal by car drivers passing through, or even regular ones. The permanently dense traffic gives a cold sweat to many, and we often come to wonder why there aren’t more car accidents. On the Saint Exupéry dock, at the exit of a construction company, was the one and only “STOP” sign in Paris, In 2012, it was finally replaced by a “no left turn” sign. Paris holds the world record for the fewest amount of stop signs.5.
"EIFFEL TOWER" THE TEMPORARY WORK
The Eiffel Tower is a 324-meter-tall structure. Its building came as a result of Gustave Eiffel and his engineer’s imagination, as they were looking to brighten the Parisian landscape up for the 1889 World Fair in Paris. However, it was originally agreed that the tower would be dismantled and destroyed at the end of the event. It was saved thanks to Mr. Eiffel’s efforts, who promoted it as a tool for scientific studies, allowing meteorological, television and radio experiments with his tower. Imagine what Paris would have been without the Eiffel Tower!6.
DISTRICTS HAVE NAME
The different Parisian districts, in addition to being numbered, all have a name. Established in 1859, the current districts, their numbering and their names haven’t changed since then. We have, for example, the “Louvre district” for 1st district, the “Popincourt district” for the 11th,...7.
A HIGHEST PRIZED FILM SHOOTING AREA
It’s free to shoot in the streets of Paris, but you have to pay a fee and get permission from the city council to shoot in gardens, museums or pools. And the fees could go 6 Figures making Paris as one of the most expensive area to shoot.8.
TOXIC WATER
The River Seine’s water is not renowned for its healthiness AND PURITY. Filthy, polluted and unsuitable for consumption, no one today would risk taking a dip. Yet, until the 1920s, some Parisians were not hesitating to drink the Seine’s water and even swim in it. Scientists analyzing the river’s water realized that it was very toxic and dangerous, immediately putting an end to those aquatic activities in the Seine.9.
BURSTING NOON
In 1876, a Parisian clockmaker, Mister Rousseau, had the idea to create a sound system that announced to people when they had to adjust their watches , a small cannon, set in the gardens of the Palais Royal, whose fuse was ignited through a system of lenses that would set it on fire when it was noon on sunny days. When you were to hear the cannon burst, you knew it was “bursting noon”. TIME TO ADJUST YOUR CLOCK!10.
GHOST STATIONS
Actually, no less than 14 stations OF PARIS are listed as “abandoned”, “no longer in use” or “never used”. Most of them, like the station Molitor, are now used as a garage for the storage and maintenance of the underground trains. One of these abandoned stations, Porte des Lilas, is even used as a film set and can be rented by production companies.
RECAP;
2. THE MOST VISITED MONUMENT
3. WORLD'S BIGGEST SUNDIAL
4. ONE AND ONLY STOP SIGN
5. "EIFFEL TOWER" THE TEMPORARY WORK
6. DISTRICTS HAVE NAME
7. A HIGHEST PRIZED FILM SHOOTING AREA
8. TOXIC WATER
9. BURSTING NOON
10. GHOST STATIONS