Some interesting Paris attractions

I’ve written before about how it has been a dream of mine to be in Paris on my birthday. The Fete nationale, a major celebration in France, is the same day as my birthday. When I was 8 years old, I realized that being in Paris on my birthday would seem like the whole country was celebrating it.

I don’t see any reason to feel differently at 47.

As we’ll have close to 2 weeks to spend in Paris, and perhaps some other areas, I’ve been researching to find some Paris attractions I haven’t experienced yet. Here are some of the ones I’m planning on visiting.

I read about La Promenade Plantee, a park that was built on almost 5 km of old rail that stretches from the Bastille area to the Bois de Vincennes, the largest public park in Paris which is also home to the Château de Vincennes. I think this would be a lovely walk, especially in summer when some of the flowers should be in bloom.

I also plan on spending time on the Canal Saint Martin and that area. I haven’t spent too much time there yet, and I’d love to check it out. Supposedly, it’s a good locale for sampling microbrews, too.

I’ve always been interested in checking out the Paris “beaches” as well. These artificial beaches get constructed along the Seine during the summer. So far my visits to the City of Light have been during the spring or winter, so I haven’t had the opportunity to check them out. I’m not too sure about a beach where you can’t enter the water, but I’m still looking forward to it.

The Ste-Etienne-du-Mont church is reported to have some really unique and gorgeous stained glass windows. Even though I’m not religious, I do like visiting old churches. I find their construction fascinating, especially ones like this that have connections going back into the mid 1400s.

Some spots I’m not so sure about

I love visiting cemeteries, but I’m not too sure I’ll be visiting the canine cemetery. Although, some of the photos I’ve seen on Google are quite interesting.

The Museum of Carnival Arts looks kind of interesting as well but also kind of creepy.

A friend of mine has recommended the sewer tour, but even though I’m a big fan of the quirky, I’m just not too sure about this idea.

Do you know of some unusual Paris attractions that might be interesting to experience? Would you do the sewer tour?