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Many Parisians pass by this splendid building without ever looking up, even though its summit features one of the most beautiful clocks in Paris.

Originally constructed in 1911 for the famous newspaper Le Temps, the building adopted a post-Haussmannian style rather than the trendy Art Nouveau of the era. Great figures such as Georges Clemenceau, Émile Zola, Jean Jaurès, and André Gide visited its offices to meet journalists and exchange ideas.

During World War II, Le Temps left Paris and stopped publishing in 1942. The building was requisitioned by the German forces, who used its presses for propaganda. After the Liberation, the newspaper Le Monde moved in in 1944, making the building a symbol of the French press.

Later used by the financial division of the Paris court system until 2018, the building is now occupied by offices. You can admire its stunning façade at 5 Rue des Italiens, especially from the corner of Boulevard des Italiens for the best view.

In Paris’s 5th arrondissement, precisely at 7 bis Boulevard Saint-Germain, stands one of the narrowest buildings in the capital. Nestled between two beautiful Haussmann-style buildings, it stands out with a width of barely three meters façade.

This architectural peculiarity is said to originate from the city’s medieval history. According to a well-established tradition, the building would occupy the very site of the former enclosure of Philippe Auguste, King of France from 1180 to 1223. Built between 1190 and 1215, this fortification once protected Paris from enemy attacks, particularly from the north and west during the Anglo-French conflicts of the Middle Ages.

Constructed in the 20th century, this five-story micro-building thus sits on land that once formed part of the medieval ramparts, still quietly reflecting the defensive past of the French capital.

If you’re strolling through Saint-Germain-des-Prés, more precisely along Rue Jacob, you’ll probably come across a small pale green bookstore, the Librairie des Femmes. It’s a rather unique place because, since 1974 (around the same time as the women’s liberation movement), the bookstore has specialized in books about women, written by women.

The selection includes many different kinds of works, philosophy, novels, essays, social sciences, and children’s books, all tied together by a strong sense of coherence and commitment.

I took a small detour to take some photos of Villa Daviel, this beautiful little dead-end street off Rue Daviel. It features lovely small brick houses with their little front gardens, creating a very harmonious and cohesive setting.

Just across from its entrance, you’ll also find the picturesque Petite Alsace, a set of former workers’ houses built in brick and half-timbered style, inspired by Alsatian architecture. The whole area is very bucolic and charming, I highly recommend taking a walk around this neighborhood :)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

You’ve got the château itself, which already makes the trip worth it, big Renaissance building, used to be a residence for French kings, so the place has some history.

Then inside there’s the archaeology museum. I thought I’d just walk through it quickly but I ended up spending way more time than expected. The collection is huge, with artifacts going from prehistoric times all the way to the Carolingian era.

Paris’s bouquinistes form an open-air bookstore stretching nearly 3 km along the Seine. Set in their iconic green boxes, they date back to the 16th century and have been established along the quays since the 19th. Today, around 240 booksellers offer over 300,000 books and collectibles. Recognized as intangible cultural heritage in 2019 and part of a UNESCO-listed site, they embody a living symbol of Parisian culture and a must-see stroll.

Walked down Rue Chanoinesse on Île de la Cité, right near Notre-Dame. It’s a pretty quiet street now, but back in the Middle Ages it was actually part of a closed-off cloister where only church canons lived.

You will find Vieux Paris d’Arcole, known for one of the most Instagrammable façades in central Paris. Its rustic charm, wisteria climbing along pastel green walls, gives it a feel reminiscent of a small Provençal village shop.

It's a nice area to wander around and enjoy a relaxed stroll in the neighbourhood.

Here are a few photos from the November 13 Memorial in the 4th arrondissement. It’s obviously a very emotional place, but also calm and peaceful, especially at this time of year. If you’re nearby, I’d recommend stopping by.