6,000! That was the number of seats available at the Gaumont Palace, a legendary movie theater in Paris, on Rue Caulaincourt in the 18th arrondissement.

Nicknamed “the largest cinema in the world,” the Gaumont Palace dominated the golden age of cinema between 1907 and 1972. Before becoming a movie theater, the building originally opened as the Montmartre Hippodrome for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, hosting circus performances, horse shows, and spectacular productions involving hundreds of performers and animals.

From 1911 to 1973, the Gaumont Palace was the paradise of movie-loving Parisians, devoted first to silent films and later to talking pictures.

To accompany films starring Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, or Max Linder, the Gaumont Palace had an orchestra of 30 musicians, and in 1931 a giant “Christie” organ was installed there. Miraculously saved from demolition in 1973, it is now housed in the Pavillon Baltard in Nogent-sur-Marne.

The Christie organ, entirely electric and made up of more than 1,500 pipes of tin, zinc, and wood, was installed 25 meters above the stage.

The Gaumont Palace was more than just a cinema. Often, the movie theater would give way to music-hall performances.

As for the films themselves, the highlight of the show, they were preceded by newsreels, a sort of early television news broadcast, followed by live acts featuring clowns, trapeze artists, singers, comedians, and more. During the intermission, the theater ushers sold ice cream, popcorn, and sweets, while advertisements featuring the famous “little miner” mascot were projected onto the screen. Nostalgia, when it grips you!

Movie screenings were true events. Programs began with “Gaumont-Revue du Monde,” presenting the week’s news, followed by documentaries, live attractions, and finally the feature presentation on a gigantic 35 mm screen. During intermission, spectators could enjoy tea rooms, bars, and promenade galleries inside the theater.

One of the theater’s greatest triumphs was the screening of Abel Gance’s “Napoléon,” which filled the auditorium for ten consecutive weeks. In 1962, the Gaumont Palace also installed a giant curved Cinerama screen measuring 600 square meters, then considered the largest in the world.

With the arrival of multiplex cinemas, single-screen theaters began to disappear. The Gaumont Palace closed its doors in April 1972 after the final screening of a cowboy film starring the unavoidable John Wayne. Developers began demolishing the building in early 1973. In place of the Gaumont Palace now stands, far less glamorous, a hotel and a DIY hardware store.

The demolition marked the disappearance of one of Paris’s greatest entertainment landmarks. Most of the theater’s archives were discarded during the destruction, leaving behind only fragments of the history of what was once considered the world’s greatest cinema palace.

The Luxor Obelisk, the oldest monument in Paris

A carved granite monolith, the Luxor Obelisk has stood at the center of Place de la Concorde since 1836. It was gifted in 1829 by Egypt in recognition of the work of Frenchman Jean-François Champollion in deciphering hieroglyphs, achieved in 1822.

The Paris Obelisk is aligned perfectly along the historical axis of Paris, stretching from the Louvre to the La Défense Arch, passing through the Tuileries Garden, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs-Élysées avenue.

Méhémet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, offered to Charles X and to France in 1829 the two obelisks standing in front of the temple of Luxor. However, only the right-hand one (when facing the temple) was taken down and transported to France.

The Revolution of 1830 nearly called everything into question, but Méhémet Ali confirmed his gift in November 1830. Champollion was tasked by the king with choosing the first of the two obelisks to be brought to France. He selected the westernmost one, the right-hand one when entering the temple, as it was the most interesting from his perspective due to its inscriptions, while the other was cracked.

Champollion was a specialist in ancient languages, known for identifying hieroglyphs as a writing system and deciphering them in 1822 through the study of correspondences between different scripts, notably on the Rosetta Stone.

A specially built ship for this purpose, the Luxor, undertook the perilous journey from Luxor to Paris. King Louis-Philippe decided to erect it in the center of Place de la Concorde in Paris. It replaced a monument dedicated to Louis XVI, who was beheaded at the same location during the French Revolution.

Choosing a monument entirely unrelated to national history was intended to prevent disputes over memory and attempts by different factions to appropriate this major revolutionary site.

The obelisk was erected with great ceremony before 200,000 people on October 25, 1836, by engineer Apollinaire Lebas using lifting machines and gigantic capstans, a true technical feat.

There, you’re in for a pretty surprising visit. It’s located in the 11th arrondissement, on Rue Pache, and it traces the history of smoking from its origins. You’ll find various objects, different plants, and explanations about why people have smoked throughout history.

It’s not huge, but there are still a lot of objects on display, pipes, hookahs, a wide selection of cigars, tobacco samples, and even hemp-fiber clothing. There are also artistic representations of tobacco culture, including etchings, portraits, photographs, videos, and scientific drawings of tobacco plants.

Église Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile is a Roman Catholic church in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, designed in the Neo-Gothic style by Louis-Auguste Boileau and Louis-Adrien Lusson. Completed in 1855, it was the first church in France to employ an entirely iron-framed structure.

The design of the church sparked controversy, because of its industrial materials and stylistic choices. In 1856, a public debate in the Journal des Débats saw architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc criticise Boileau, describing him as more of a “mechanic than an architect” and dismissing the church’s Neo-Gothic design as a “pastiche of bad taste.”

Even though ceremonies are held there today, on May 8, which marks the end of World War II in Europe, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier actually honors the soldiers of World War I. Since the Second World War, the site has also become a place of remembrance for all soldiers who fell in both conflicts.

After the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, France entered a long period of mourning, 1.4 million soldiers had been killed or gone missing, 3.6 million were wounded, and more than 500,000 had been taken prisoner.

On November 11, 1920, an unidentified soldier, chosen from eight coffins gathered from different sectors of the front and brought to the citadel of Verdun, was taken to Paris after a ceremony at the Panthéon. On January 28, 1921, the “Unknown Soldier” was buried beneath the Arc de Triomphe, facing the Champs-Élysées.

Located in the Palais de Chaillot on the Trocadéro esplanade in the 16th arrondissement of Paris (with an exceptional view of the Eiffel Tower), the Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine features three main galleries: the gallery of full-scale casts, the gallery of murals and stained glass, and the gallery of modern and contemporary architecture models.

Through thousands of casts and models, visitors explore 1,000 years of architectural heritage and the importance of architecture and urban planning in society, on a journey through France’s most beautiful buildings from the Middle Ages to the present day.

I didn’t expect the scale of the models, some of them are absolutely monumental in real life. I also I liked how the museum makes architecture easy to understand, even without prior knowledge.

Located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, near the Pont des Arts, I visited the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the oldest public library in Paris. Accessible to everyone within the Institut de France, it is a cultural and heritage gem worth visiting.

This library was created by Cardinal Mazarin, successor to Cardinal Richelieu, who became in 1643 the principal minister of state of France under the regency of Anne of Austria, a position he held until his death in 1661. Considered the richest man in Europe in the 17th century, Mazarin acquired the Hôtel Duret de Chevry, or Hôtel Tubeuf, on rue des Petits-Champs. Expanded to house his collections, it became known as the Palais Mazarin.

The library was created thanks to Gabriel Naudé (1600–1653), who was tasked by Mazarin in 1643 with building his personal library. By acquiring private collections, Naudé built the largest private collection in Europe, with 40,000 volumes. From 1643, the Mazarine Library was opened once a week to scholars, making it the oldest public library in France.

After Mazarin’s death in 1661, funds were left to build the Collège des Quatre-Nations, designed by Louis Le Vau and completed in 1674. In 1688, the Mazarine Library moved there and reopened to scholars the following year. During the French Revolution, it was enriched with manuscripts and printed works from confiscated libraries.

The library now occupies two galleries in the building, one for the collections and one for the reading room. The reading room, shaped like an L, is structured with bookshelves and columns supporting the upper gallery. Later changes included a new ceiling in the 18th century and a neoclassical staircase added in 1824. The reading room is also decorated with busts of historical figures. Today, the Bibliothèque Mazarine remains one of the most prestigious libraries in France.

The museum retraces the history of Parisian law enforcement from the 17th century through a wide range of objects and exhibits. You’ll find major conspiracies, arrests, significant thefts, criminal cases, and the famous figures who were involved in them. It also covers the evolution of equipment, weapons, and investigative methods, really cool stuff.

Just so you know, it’s a very small museum and quite niche, so don’t expect anything grand.

One more thing to keep in mind: everything is in French, so he may have used a tool like Google Lens to translate the descriptions.

The museum is located on Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement. Entry is free, but you need to book in advance using this link

Located in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, the Parc de Bagatelle is a place for walking and relaxation covering 24 hectares. I had the chance to visit it and take a few pictures during my walk.

Created in 1775, the park and its château were built in sixty-four days following a wager between Marie-Antoinette and the Comte d’Artois. Designed in a typical Anglo-Chinese style of that period, the Parc de Bagatelle was conceived by Belanger and carried out by Thomas Blaikie.

The setting is so perfectly romantic that it almost seems unreal. Small bridges, rocks, caves, water mirrors and artificial waterfalls wind beneath the wooded canopy of gigantic trees. The gentle murmur of water accompanied my steps through the landscaped part of the park.

The Parc de Bagatelle is dotted with small gardens grouping flowers by species: the iris garden, the perennial plants garden, and the presenters’ garden. The entire park is one of the four sites of the Paris Botanical Garden. It was even possible to come across peacocks strutting about, completely unbothered by visitors, I managed to capture a few in photos.

The Parc de Bagatelle is also famous for its rose garden, where 10,000 flowers from 1,200 different species can be admired during their bloom at the end of spring. In front of the orangery, a magnificent flowerbed with shimmering colors prepared the eyes for the incomparable brilliance of the Bagatelle roses.

I really enjoyed the visit, it is a beautiful, very calm place, with not many people. Highly recommend.

In the second half of the 19th century, especially under the Second Empire, transport organization became a major concern due to increasing traffic in a rapidly expanding city. Under Prefect Haussmann, major urban works reshaped Paris and improved circulation, but central districts became increasingly congested.

The 1867 Universal Exhibition revealed the serious limits of surface transport, and rail appeared as the solution for mass transit. After 1870, many projects emerged, until the government decided in favor of a local, independent metro network for Paris.

As early as November 1898, the City of Paris began preparatory work: service galleries, sewer relocation under Rue de Rivoli, and water pipe modifications. Construction, which tore up parts of the city, was completed in record time (17 months).

Immediate success for Line 1

On July 19, 1900, at 1 p.m., Line 1 opened to the public between Porte Maillot and Porte de Vincennes, linking sites of the Universal Exhibition and serving events of the 1900 Olympic Games in the Bois de Vincennes. 30,000 tickets were sold for the launch.

The line was inaugurated discreetly during a heatwave to allow gradual use. Only eight stations opened at first; the others followed between August 6 and September 1, 1900, under engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe (who would later give his name to the Montparnasse–Bienvenüe metro station in 1933).

The success was immediate. By December 1900, millions of passengers had already used the line, and traffic kept increasing rapidly in the following years.

The first trains, made of wood and fully electric, reflected industrial innovation. Stations, with white tiles and electric lighting, impressed passengers and illustrated the modernity of the system.

A rapidly expanding network

From the start, traffic exceeded expectations, leading to the rapid construction of new lines. Expansion continued without interruption until World War I. By 1939, most of the inner-city network was completed.

By 1949, the network reached 166.2 km with 14 lines and 270 stations.

Since then, Line 1 has been extended to Château de Vincennes (1934), Neuilly-sur-Seine (1936), and La Défense (1992). It is now 16.6 km long with 25 stations.

Fully automated since 2013, Line 1 is the busiest line in the Paris metro network, with around 750,000 daily passengers.

Rue des Degrés, in the 2nd arrondissement, is basically a staircase connecting Rue de Cléry to Rue Beauregard. According to Wikipedia, "Degrés" comes from an old word for ‘steps,’ which makes sense.

I stumbled upon this beautiful building with stained glass windows on Rue Réaumur. There are several other really cool buildings along this street as well, so if you’re ever in the area, keep your eyes open.