Tour · 6 stops · ~3 hours
Paris-1900
Six places that look identical to a turn-of-the-century photograph.
Belle Époque time capsules — buildings, métro entrances, and dining rooms that have not been redecorated, restored, or visually updated in over a century. Bring an old postcard if you have one and try to match the angle.
Through the16e · Trocadéro & Passy7e · Eiffel Tower & Invalides8e · Champs-Élysées & Madeleine12e · Bastille, Bercy & Aligre9e · South Pigalle & Opéra
- 1
Métro Porte Dauphine
1900 Hector Guimard édicule, station entrance line 2. One of only two surviving Guimard entrances with the original glass canopy intact (the other is Abbesses). Identical to its 1900 photograph.
On the small avenue Foch side, not the boulevard side. Rarely photographed because it's at the end of a line and tourists don't come this far. Walk around the entrance once before going inside — every angle is original.
48.87140, 2.27610
2Pont Alexandre III
1900. The bridge has not been altered since the day it opened for the Exposition Universelle. The gilding has been refreshed but the casts and stonework are 1900 originals.
Compare your view to a 1900 postcard — the only difference is the Eiffel Tower's antenna behind it (added 1957). Walk down to the lower quay for the elevation that postcard photographers used.
From Wikipedia›
The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine in Paris. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city. It has been classified as a French monument historique since 1975.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Rosa Bonheur sur Seine4 min
48.86380, 2.31370
- 3
Grand Palais nave
1900 Expo's central exhibition hall. The glass-and-iron roof, the iron staircase to the upper galleries, and the Beaux-Arts mosaic floor are all original 1900 work, restored 2021–2024 to bring back the exact original colours.
Even on a non-exhibition day you can usually walk into the entrance hall and look up. The full nave requires a ticket — buy any cheap exhibition entry just to walk through the space; the nave is the point, not the show.
48.86620, 2.31200
- 4
Le Train Bleu
Inside Gare de Lyon, opened 1901. 41 ceiling and wall paintings, gilt mouldings, brass railings — every surface is 1900 original. The food is fine; the room is the reason. Cocteau called it "the only place in Paris where 1900 is still happening."
Up the grand double staircase from the main concourse. Walk into the dining room without a reservation just to look. For coffee, sit at the front bar; you can take in the whole room without the lunch-rush waiter pressure.
From Wikipedia›
The Calais-Mediterranée Express was a French luxury night express train which operated from 1886 to 2003. It gained international fame as the preferred train of wealthy and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera during the interwar period. It was colloquially referred to as Le Train Bleu in French and the Blue Train in English because of its dark-blue sleeping cars.
Read more on Wikipedia →48.84430, 2.37360
5Bouillon Chartier
1896. The dining room — coat racks, brass luggage shelves above the booths, beveled mirrors, painted ceiling — is unchanged since opening. Even the system of writing your bill on the paper tablecloth dates from 1896.
Stand at the entrance just inside the courtyard for thirty seconds and look at the room before you're seated. Best photo of the room is from the doorway. Order anything cheap; you're paying for the dining room, not the dish.
From Wikipedia›
Bouillon Chartier, or simply Chartier, is a "bouillon" restaurant in Paris founded in 1896, located in the 9th arrondissement and classified as a monument historique since 1989.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Bouillon Chartier (Grands Boulevards)1 minHôtel Chopin2 min
48.87160, 2.34330
- 6
Galeries Lafayette dome
1912. Slightly later than 1900 but in the same Belle Époque idiom — Ferdinand Chanut's neo-Byzantine glass dome, 33 m above the central atrium, with stained glass by Jacques Gruber. The balconies, ironwork, and dome are original.
Enter at 40 Boulevard Haussmann. Walk to the centre and look up. The first-floor balcony is the matching angle to most period photographs. The rooftop terrace (free, signposted) is a separate experience and worth the lift up.
Verified nearby ·Galeries Lafayette dome & rooftop1 min
48.87360, 2.33200