Paris Sewer Museum

When Gina gets something in her mind, you might as well go with it.  She was determined to go to the Paris Sewer Museum, and no matter how many delaying tactics I tried, we ended up there.  It is only a couple of blocks from our apartment, and is right next to the Seine.  It is covered under the Paris Museum Pass.  I have to admit, it turned out to be very interesting, and stinky.

This is not a rendition, or an example of a sewer, it is part of the actual sewer system.  Our tour was self-guided, though we did see two guided tours going on, they were in French though.

At times you walked over the actual sewage, with only a subway grate between you and the waste.  This was where the smell was strongest.  I am olfactorily challenged, but even I was overpowered by the smell when we were over the sewage.  The smell did not permeate the whole museum though.

Here are some pictures of the sewage.

One of the more interesting aspects is how they clean the pipes.  They roll these large balls down them, they are only slightly smaller than the pipes themselves.

There was even a Vicor Hugo, Les Miserables reference.

Below I will post some general pictures of some of the equipment used to create the sewer.