Aquarium de Paris

This guide to the Aquarium de Paris follows the quarry caves beneath the Trocadéro gardens from their days sheltering Napoleon's soldiers to 1878, when architect Eugène Combaz decided to route seawater through the same tunnels rather than build something new. You'll hear how the result became Europe's first permanent public aquarium, its long closure in 1986, and what greets you now in the main hall where the ceiling is the hillside's actual rock. Look up before you look into the tanks.