4 strange and unusual museums to visit in Paris
The Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Petit Palais, the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac or the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris are museums as popular and unavoidable as the Eiffel Tower is when one comes to visit Paris. You want something new to discover the capital in a new light ? We propose you a selection of Strange and unusual museums in Paris to spice up your discovery of the city of lights.
4 unusual museums to visit in Paris
You thought museums were reserved for the works of the great masters ? Fortunately, our culture is much richer than that. Discover now 5 strange and unusual museums in Paris that you would have never imagined to visit.
The Sewer Museum
Oh, when we talk about Paris, we think about the charm of its architecture, its alleys intertwined with its period cobblestones, its emblematic cultural monuments and its gastronomic heritage. So you might not have expected to be taken to the Paris Sewer Museum.
The sewers are indeed very far from inspiring wonder and glamour. Yet, there is something exciting about discovering what lies behind the scenes of a capital city, underground. Between history and contemporary functioning, discover the secrets of a vital system of the city of lights.
Go to the Habib-Bourguiba esplanade in the 7th district of Paris to discover one of the strange and unusual museums in Paris.
The Catacombs of Paris
Among the strange and unusual museums in Paris, there are not only secret places that almost nobody talks about. Indeed, the Catacombs are a famous and unusual place that you must visit if you are in Paris.
Former underground quarries, the Catacombs can be visited in particular to discover a unique and emblematic ossuary of the History of Paris.
The little extra ? It is a visit not to be missed, especially in summer. Yes, in the Catacombs, it is cool, a luxury that we seek at all costs under the sun of July and August.
Address : 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy – 75014 Paris
The vampire museum
Who said that culture was limited to History with a capital “H”? ? If you are still looking for strange and unusual museums in Paris, we suggest you to go to the museum of vampires and monsters of the imagination.
Yes, you read it right. Run by a real enthusiast (Jacques Sirgent), the vampire museum is a place for adults who have kept a certain childlike spirit and wish to discover a large fantastic collection.
As a passionate and fascinating person, you can listen to the creator of the museum talk about many subjects, for a unique visit, strange and unusual as we like them.
Address : 10 Av. of Père Lachaise, 75020 Paris
Doctor Dorr’s cabinet of curiosities
The Cabinet of Curiosities is a favorite haunt of amateurs of unusual and strange. Real chains of objects as singular and rare as each other and having no relation between them, these original places have crossed the ages, proof that curiosity is an ancestral bad habit.
The Cabinet of curiosities of Doctor Philippe Dorr, a dental surgeon by profession, was one of these landmarks that should not be missed in the 5th arrondissement in Paris. Unfortunately, this one closed several years ago.
Nevertheless, we encourage you to discover these strange and unusual museums in Paris at Curiositas, L’Objet Qui Parle, the Puces de Saint-Ouen or the Librairie Alain Brieux for example.
There is no lack of curiosity cabinets in Paris and you would be wrong to miss them ! None of them are alike except in their zany and mismatched side. Choosing a selection of strange and unusual museums in Paris to discover the city is an original and playful way to see the culture in another way. If visiting the great unavoidable classics of the capital is essential, we don’t say no to a little fantasy in the travel program from time to time ! Sewer museum, Catacombs, Vampire museum, cabinets of curiosity… It’s time to discover another face of the city of lights.
Two strange museums unfortunately closed today’today
The Dupuytren Museum of Anatomical Pathology
Between creepy curiosity and unusual visit, the Dupuytren Museum is a must-see. Sensitive souls please, in this museum of the strange, you can find multiple jars housing a collection for the least original: organs, deformed bodies, malformations, fetuses with two heads, etc.
Unfortunately, if it easily won the prize of the “best of the best”, it was not Strange and unusual museums in Paris, the Dupuytren Museum of Anatomical Pathologies is now closed to the public since 2016 for safety reasons (dilapidated, conservation of collections, standards of reception of the public …).
Note: the collection of the Dupuytren museum remains accessible to students and researchers in medicine on the Jussieu campus.
The advocates for the reopening of this museum are numerous and we hope that its unique collection will one day be open to a curious public again.