Are you happy to be in Paris ? Oui !
Ah Paris! The capital of France and a world-famous tourist destination, it attracts millions of visitors every year! As well as its iconic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and the Louvre Museum, Paris has a fascinating history. Do you know everything about the French capital? Here are 15 unusual facts for you to discover! ☺️
15 unusual facts !
🌉 The Pont Neuf, the oldest: the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf, was built in 1607, despite its "Neuf" (new) name.
🏴☠️ A famous cemetery: the Père Lachaise cemetery is the most visited in the world, with famous personalities like Jim Morrison buried there.
🏛️ Paris syndrome: some tourists are so disappointed by Paris that they develop "Paris syndrome". A syndrome that mainly affects Japanese tourists!
💡 The City of Light: Paris's nickname, the "City of Light", may not come from the electric lighting, as legend has it, but rather from the large number of brilliant intellectuals who lived there.
🛑 No stop signs: Paris has no stop signs, but has the largest number of roundabouts in the world to control traffic.
🧪 The Philosopher's Stone in Paris: Nicolas Flamel, the character mentioned in Harry Potter, was a historical figure who lived in Paris. And if you'd like to find out a bit more about this character, you should know that he appears in our game "The Alchemist"!
🏛️ The nicknames of Paris: Paris was known as Lutetia in Roman times, with remains visible today in districts such as the Latin Quarter and the Île de la Cité. Today, it is often given the nickname "Paname".
🗼 The most visited monument in Paris: despite its fame, the Eiffel Tower was not the most visited monument in Paris before Notre-Dame burnt down.
🚝 A shitty metro: the RER A could have been called MERDE! (shit!💩)- the Métro Express Régional Défense-Etoile - fortunately, the line was renamed Réseau Express Régional (RER) thanks to the painter responsible for inscribing the acronym.
🏞️ A very high summit: to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower, there are a total of 1,665 steps. While the Tower's staircases have a total of 1,665 steps to go from the ground to the top of the Tower, you can only climb the 674 steps on the stairs from the ground to the 2nd floor (327, then 347 steps).
📷 Copyright: it is illegal to distribute images of the Eiffel Tower illuminated at night due to the copyright on its lighting.
👖 An absurd law: it was illegal for Parisian women to wear trousers until 2012.
🍸 A homemade cocktail: the Bloody Mary cocktail was created in Paris by French barman Fernand Petiot.
🐶 More dogs than children: Paris has 17 dogs for every 100 inhabitants - that's more dogs than children!
🍄 Catacombs once used to grow mushrooms: as well as skeletons, catacombs were also used to grow mushrooms in their dark, damp tunnels.
Play in Paris!
Would you like to discover even more anecdotes, fun facts, surprising facts or simply find out a little more about the history of Paris? Then get on board with Coddy!
With our Paris exploration games, you can play and visit the city at the same time, (Re)Discovering your surroundings while solving fun puzzles with your team!
