Have you ever taken a stroll through Paris, and thought for a moment that what you were looking at looked out of place? Many of the capital’s landmarks are quite unusual, and give the impression of having come from other parts of the world, and simply having been placed here. Here’s our list!
The Paris Pagoda, a monument to China
Impossible to miss. In the 8th arrondissement, a large red pagoda stands at the corner of Rue de Monceau, Rue de Courcelles and Rue Rembrandt. How did it end up there, in the heart of a district filled with old mansions from the Baron Haussmann era? Built in the mid-1800s, like most of the neighboring buildings, the building began life as a private mansion, far from being one among the others. It wasn’t until the 1920s, when the Roaring Twenties were in full swing in Paris, that the address underwent a radical facelift. At that time, Ching-Tsai Loo, a collector and dealer in Chinese antiques and Asian art, moved in. Passionate about Asian culture, he decided to transform number 48 into a monument to Asia, and so the pagoda was born.
đ Address: 48 Rue de Courcelles, 75008 Paris
The Grande Mosquée de Paris, an architectural gem in the 5th arrondissement
In the 5th arrondissement, the Grande MosquĂ©e de Paris stands proudly opposite the Jardin des Plantes. But the cultural institute has nothing to envy its neighboring park, so much so that this jewel of architecture and escape invites you to travel to Paris. In its sublime gardens, in the inner courtyard of the mosque, you can bask cut off from the world amidst the wisteria, and sit down to enjoy a pastry or mint tea at the CafĂ© Maure. Under the gilded arches inside, you can observe the mosaics and moldings that decorate this mosque, one of the oldest in France, and forget about yourself for a while… There’s also a couscous restaurant and a hammam!
đ Address: 2bis Place du Puits de l’Ermite, 75005 Paris
La campagne Ă Paris, the village-like district
Did you know that you can treat yourself to a bucolic getaway in the countryside, without leaving Paris? Head to the heart of the 20th arrondissement, to La Campagne Ă Paris, a small neighborhood that looks more like a village than a district of one of the world’s great capitals. With its small buildings, quiet cobbled streets and surrounding greenery, this little neighborhood high above the Porte de Bagnolet seems isolated from the rest of the city. Climb the steps that separate this Parisian village from the rest of the city, and enter another dimension where you’ll feel like you’ re experiencing spring in the country!
đ Address: Rues IrĂ©nĂ©e Blanc and Jules Siegfried, 75020 Paris
The Bois de Vincennes and the Bois de Boulogne to fill up on greenery
The result of Haussmann’s work under Napoleon III, the woods of Paris are a veritable haven of peace. A place to escape the hustle and bustle of Paris while remaining within the city’s geographical limits, the Bois de Vincennes and Bois de Boulogne offer a unique interlude. By the lakes, along the forest paths or sunbathing on one of the woodland lawns, you’ll soon forget you’re in a metropolis of 2 million inhabitants…
đ Address: 75016 and 75020 Paris
The Centre Pompidou, an art museum with a factory look
Amidst the Haussmann buildings in the ChĂątelet district, one building stands out from the rest. The Centre Pompidou, a cultural center housing a modern art museum with the world’s second-largest collection of its kind, a library, theaters and movie theaters, as well as temporary exhibition galleries and Ircam, the Institute for Acoustic/Music Research and Coordination. With its multicolored tubes and unusual architecture, Beaubourg is an anomaly in the Parisian panorama.
đ Address: Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004 Paris
Ăle-Saint-Louis, old Paris
Right in the middle of the Seine,Ăle-Saint-Louis is a veritable Parisian village. The historic center of the capital, its vestiges of centuries gone by and its narrow streets preserved from the usual hustle and bustle of our beautiful City of Light give the impression of walking through a picturesque little village, far from Paris. A fine collection of local addresses, bohemian quaysides and artists’ studios reinforce this sense of escape.
La DĂ©fense, a touch of Manhattan
The Paris business district may not actually be within the city’s geographical limits, but its skyscrapers are an integral part of the Paris landscape. And yet, strolling along the Esplanade de La DĂ©fense in Puteaux, surrounded by glass towers, you could almost imagine yourself in the vibrant downtown of an American metropolis, where people bustle and bustle, briefcases in hand, constantly on the phone. Far from the Parisian terraces, La DĂ©fense shows a completely different side of Paris!
Rue Crémieux and its colorful facades
A favorite street of Instagrammers and tourists alike, Rue CrĂ©mieux and its colorful townhouses are one of the most recognizable backdrops for photos taken in Paris. Yet as you stroll down this little alley in the 12th arrondissement, you quickly forget that what you usually see on the streets of the capital are fairly invariable Haussmann buildings. Its Mediterranean village feel is a far cry from what you’d expect to find on a street corner.
đ Address: Rue CrĂ©mieux, 75012 Paris
The Catacombs and their underground galleries
20 meters beneath our feet, it’s not just the metro system that makes Paris tremble. We’re talking, of course, about the Catacombs of Paris! These strange galleries, more than 320 kilometers long, are entirely filled with bones. The Catacombs are well known to Parisians for all the legends surrounding this tourist attraction, which attracts almost 500,000 visitors every year. But when you take a step back, it’s always unusual to remember that beneath the streets of Paris are over 300 kilometers of galleries housing the bones of over 6 million former Parisians.
đ Address: 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris
Montmartre vineyards on the hillside
Vineyards in the heart of Paris? It’s a historic vestige of the winegrowing past of the Butte Montmartre, which has been cultivated for its vines since 944. The Clos-Montmartre was born of a city buyout, the initiative of local residents, to preserve this parcel of land in the face of urban development in the 1930s. Every year, a FĂȘte des Vendanges is held here, making this vineyard of Gamay and Pinot Noir one of the most unusual in France!
đ Address: 18 Rue des Saules, 75018 Paris