Page 160 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

EXPERIENCE Paris: Beyond the Centre

fighting in World War I, the
23 "-'= Grande Mosquée features 25 "'
Musée National beautiful decoration and a Catacombes
d’Histoire Naturelle striking, 33-m- (108-ft-) high
minaret. These buildings are ⌂ 1 av du Colonel Henri
⌂ 36 rue Geoffroy Saint- Rol-Tanguy 75014
Hilaire 75005 q Jussieu, the centre of Paris’s Muslim q Denfert-Rochereau
Austerlitz # 10am–6pm community. Once used exclu- # 10am–8:30pm Tue–Sun
Wed–Mon ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 sively by scholars, the mosque ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May
has expanded significantly
Dec ∑ mnhn.fr ∑ catacombes.paris.fr
over the years. It now houses
This museum’s well-curated some rather salubrious but A long, labyrinthine series of
Grande Galerie de l’Evolution fun Turkish baths, a lush and quarry tunnels dug during the
traces evolution on earth. The landscaped garden, a fine 13th century, the catacombs
four other depart ments focus restau rant and a beautiful are lined with ancient bones
on palaeontology, featuring salon de thé. and skulls, many arranged
the evolution of bone struc- artfully into macabre mosaics.
ture; palaeobotany, devoted Thousands of rotting corpses
to plant fossils; miner alogy, were transported here in the
including gemstones; and 1780s to absorb the excess
entomology, showing some from the over flowing mass
of the oldest fossilized insects graves of Les Halles cemetery.
ever found. Coats are recommended – the
tunnels are chilly year-round.

24 "-'\
Grande Mosquée 26
de Paris Jardin des Plantes
⌂ 2 bis place du Puits de ⌂ 57 rue Cuvier 75005
l’Ermite 75005 q Place q Gare d’Austerlitz W Gare
Monge # 9am–noon & d’Aus terlitz @ 24, 57, 61,
2–6pm Sat–Thu ¢ Muslim 63, 67, 89, 91 # Early Feb–
hols ∑ mosqueede late Oct: 7:30am–8pm daily;
paris.net late Oct–early Feb : 8am–
5:30pm daily ∑ jardin
Built during the 1920s in the desplantes.net
Hispano-Moorish style, as a The lofty minaret of
token of gratitude for the the beautiful Grande The botanical gardens were
Muslim tirailleurs who died Mosquée de Paris established when Louis XIII’s
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