Some 500 m of sewers to visit 6 m underground, a museum but also a real industrial site with real sewer workers, in action and in antibacterial cosmonaut suits, who wade through conduits, with the addition of spider webs giant and wet cockroaches, possibly a few rats and the smell!
Welcome to the sewers of Paris.
The City reopens with fanfare one of its emblematic municipal museums, located on the Quai d'Orsay, at the Alma bridge, opposite the Zouave (7th arrondissement).
The establishment which promises to face the Seine, with a very "arched" industrial pavilion, rust-colored, just to be tone on tone with its pipes, therefore offers its entrails to the public after three years of work instead of two. - the fault of confinement - and by the way 4 million euros put on the table, or double the budget initially planned.
2,675 km of sewers under Paris
In the museum part, staged without much surprise - old machines, turbines, pipes, models, timelines, a few display cases, multimedia panels to understand where the water from our showers goes - you will only see a tiny part from the entire city network. It is a bit like in the catacombs which meander under the streets of Paris and which also offer their museum in a mini-perimeter under Denfert-Rochereau (14th century). In total, the Paris sewer network, its pipes, is… 2,675 km, ie the distance between Paris and Istanbul!
During the visit, you will be able to walk - avoid stiletto heels but boots are not necessary - with a guide or freely, for a full price of 9 euros.
This is double compared to 2018, before it closed.
But at the Catacombs, it's 14 euros.
The site also sheds light on the hard and dangerous work of the 270 sewer workers who work in Paris.
LP / Olivier Arandel
The historical “pee poo” subject will be part of your trip ... Here and there, there are some reproductions of old and amusing engravings like that of these Parisians who, a great classic, in the Middle Ages, threw their chamber pots by windows or these "scrapers", a little-known profession ...
In the 18th century, Parisians made their poor living by making people cross the alleys on their backs to prevent them from wading in dirty and foul-smelling water.
There is also the inevitable nod to Victor Hugo who defined the sewers "of the mire, with the human form less".
Behind a gate, we see a giant poster which portrays a Jean Valjean going up the sewers in a scene from Les Misérables.
The opening of this site to the public also makes it possible to shed light on the hard and dangerous work of these 270 discreet and silent sewer workers - including only 10 women - territorial civil servants, cadre C, who earn 1,700 euros at the start of their career and at the end of their career. 2,300 euros.
A waterproof suit and masks to breathe
We see them stealthily gloved, helmets, boots, waders, harnesses, danger detector box (especially gas), self-rescuing mask (which allows breathing in contaminated atmospheres).
In the sewers, there is also asbestos ... In the years 1960-1970 and even 1980, part of the pipes was painted with a pasty paint containing asbestos, to prevent rust ...
The sewers of Paris are also working for tomorrow ... By operating the sewers and sorting waste water, they ensure the risks of floods and overflows, but above all the cleanliness of the Seine.
In the 1970s, there were three species of fish in the river.
Today, fifty years later, you can fish around thirty species, including salmon and pike.
Read alsoOJ 2024: how Paris will clean up the Seine
In the sights of the reopening of this museum, for the City, there are also climate issues and the role of sewers, the ecological transition of the capital and interesting experiences including the heating of municipal buildings using sewers, biodiversity. and… the 2024 Olympics. Anne Hidalgo promised that we could swim in the Seine for the great international sporting event.
There are only three years left.
The challenge is great for the sewer workers of the capital!
Sewer Museum,
opposite 93, quai d'Orsay, Paris (7th district).
Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission at 4 p.m.).
From 7 to 13 euros.
Rens.
:
musee-egouts.paris.fr
