Sundials and astronomical curiosities in Paris

Departure from Place Colette. Access by Metro, line 1 or 7, Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre station, exit no. 5 Place Colette/Théâtres. Access by bus, lines 21, 27, 39, 67, 68, 69, 72, 95.

(S) Head towards the gallery and garden of the Palais Royal, indicated by a sign. Pass under the entrance porch: just after, on the ground, you will find an "Arago" medallion, which marks the Paris meridian. Walk along the Buren columns on your right and enter the garden. Then first turn right then left and take the central path. Behind a statue is the small cannon of the Palais Toyal (this cannon was fired at noon, initially using a magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays on the fuse). Go to the end of the garden and exit on the left.

(1) Turn right onto Rue de Beaujolais, then left onto Rue Vivienne. Immediately turn right onto Rue des Petits Champs. Continue straight ahead until you reach Place des Victoires. Go around the square (equestrian statue of Louis XIV) and continue straight ahead onto Rue Étienne Marcel. Continue straight ahead at the next two crossroads, then turn right onto Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

(2) Enter the courtyard at No. 68: a declining sundial can be found high up on an interior façade.

(2) Continue along Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. At the end, turn left onto Rue Coquillère. Go straight ahead and walk alongside Saint-Eustache Church on your left. On the south transept of the church is a sundial (under the rose window) and a meridian, a little lower down, on the left above the portal, which can be used to determine solar noon.

(3) At the end of the church, turn left onto Rue de Turbigo. Cross Rue Étienne Marcel and then Boulevard de Sébastopol. Then turn right onto Rue des Gravilliers and take the^third left onto Rue du Temple.

(4) Enter the courtyard at No. 157: there is a sundial high up on the right.

(4) Continue along Rue du Temple and Square du Temple on your right. At the corner of the square, turn right onto Rue Perrée. At No. 18, on the corner with Rue Paul Dubois, note the sculpture and sundial on the building. Then enter Square du Temple and immediately turn left to stay parallel to Rue Parrée. At the end, turn right in front of the town hall and exit at the opposite corner of the square.

(5) Then turn into Rue des Archives, roughly opposite. Cross Rue Pastourelle and continue straight ahead.

(6) A little further on, turn left into Rue des Quatre Fils and go to No. 18. On either side of the main building, you can see two sundials, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Go back to Rue des Archives.

(6) Follow the street to the left until you reach Rue de Rivoli. Follow this street to the right, preferably on the left-hand pavement (odd numbers). Cross Rue de la Coutellerie on the left-hand side and note the Maison de l'Astronomie shop at No. 33. Cross Rue de la Tacherie and then Rue Saint-Martin.

(7) Then turn left to enter Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques. Walk past the tower on your left and exit the square on the other side. Return to Rue de Rivoli, follow it to the left and cross Boulevard de Sébastopol. Continue straight ahead on Rue de Rivoli.

(8) Turn left onto Rue Perrault: Claude Perrault (1613-1688) was the architect who designed the Paris Observatory. At the end, turn left again and walk along Place du Louvre until you reach the foot of the belfry of the^1st arrondissement town hall, designed by Théodore Ballu (1817-1885), on which you can see three dials, including a clock surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. Then walk past the entrance to the Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerois.

(9) First turn right then left onto Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny. At the end, cross over and follow Quai François Mitterand to the right. After about a hundred metres, take the Pont des Arts to cross the Seine. At the end, cross the Quai de Conti and head towards the Bibliothèque Mazarine (to the left of the main door of the Institut de France). Enter the courtyard, asking for access at reception if necessary. There are two sundials in the main courtyard.

(10) Upon exiting, turn right onto Quai de Conti. Then turn left onto Pont Neuf and cross a branch of the Seine. At the end of the bridge, turn right onto Quai des Orfèvres. At No. 32, note a sundial on a small tower displaying the motto "Time flies, justice remains. " Continue along Quai des Orfèvres.

(11) Turn right onto Pont Saint-Michel to cross the branch of the Seine again. At the end of the bridge, turn left onto Place Saint-Michel. Turn left onto Rue de la Huchette, then immediately right onto Rue de la Harpe. At the crossroads, turn right, still on Rue de la Harpe. Take the^first left, Rue de la Parcheminerie. At the end, cross Rue Saint-Jacques.

(12) Follow this street to the right and note, next to No. 29, a sundial designed by Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Continue along Rue Saint-Jacques, cross Boulevard Saint-Germain and go straight on to Rue des Écoles.

(13) Cross Rue des Écoles, walk a few metres and stand on the side of Square Michel Foucault. From here, you can see the two domes of the Sorbonne Observatory, a little further down Rue Saint-Jacques. Return to Rue des Écoles.

(13) Follow this street to the left and cross Rue Saint-Jacques. Go straight ahead, pass in front of the Sorbonne and then cross Boulevard Saint-Michel. Take Rue de l'École de Médecine opposite and continue straight ahead.

(14) Just before Place Danton, turn left onto Rue Dupuytren. At the end, turn right onto Rue Monsieur le Prince. At the end, turn left to cross Rue de l'Odéon and immediately turn left onto Rue de Condé. Take the^second right, Rue Saint-Sulpice. At the next intersection, continue straight ahead on this street.

(15) At the corner of Rue Garancière (Place August Strindberg), enter the Church of Saint-Sulpice from the rear (if the door is closed, continue along Rue Saint-Sulpice and use the main entrance). At the back of the north transept, on the floor, is the gnomon, and opposite it, high up, is the stained-glass window with a hole that lets in a ray of sunlight. Leave the church through the main entrance and cross Place Saint-Sulpice. Leave the fountain on your left, cross Rue Bonaparte and take Rue du Vieux Colombier. Go straight ahead and cross Rue de Rennes.

(16) Turn left onto Rue du Cherche-Midi. Cross Rue d'Assas and then Boulevard Raspail in two stages. Continue along Rue du Cherche-Midi and note the sundial at no. 56. Then turn left onto Rue Saint-Placide. At the crossroads, cross Rue de Vaugirard and Rue de Rennes and take Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Take the^first left, Rue de Fleurus. Cross Boulevard Raspail again, then Rue d'Assas.

(17) At the end of the street, enter the Jardin du Luxembourg. Go straight ahead to the pond. Then turn right onto the main path. Go through the garden gates, cross Place André Honoré and continue straight ahead into the Jardin des Grands Explorateurs. Cross Rue Michelet and, at the end of the garden, you will find the Fontaine des Quatre Parties du Monde fountain, with its sphere surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. Continue in the same direction and cross Rue d'Assas. Turn left to reach the entrance to the Port-Royal RER station.

(18) Turn right, cross Boulevard de Port-Royal and continue along Avenue de l'Observatoire. Cross Rue Henri Barbusse on the left and continue along Avenue de l'Observatoire. Cross Rue Cassini and reach the gate of the Paris Observatory (statue of astronomer Urbain Le Verrier - 1811-1877 - inside the courtyard).

(19) Go back a little and turn right onto Rue Cassini (Jean-Dominique Cassini - 1625-1712 - was the first director of the Paris Observatory). At the end, turn right onto Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques. You will come out onto Boulevard Arago; follow it to the right.

(20) After a few dozen metres, turn right into the Jardin de l'Observatoire (if it is open). At the end, beyond the Paris meridian marker, you can see the dome of the large telescope behind the trees. Retrace your steps.

(20) Cross Boulevard Arago, then a small square with a stele and statue of François Arago. Come out onto Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques and follow it to the right. Cross Boulevard Saint-Jacques in two stages and continue along Rue de la Tombe-Issoire. Cross Rue Émile Dubois on the left-hand side, then turn left into Passage Dareau. You will come out onto the street of the same name; follow it to the left for about 50 metres.

(21) Turn right at an acute angle into Rue Broussais. At the end of a building, after No. 28, above the car park entrance, there is a modern sundial. Continue along Rue Broussais. You will come out onto Rue d'Alésia. Follow it to the right and go under the railway bridge. At the crossroads, turn left into Avenue René Coty (take the central lane). At the end, first turn right then left to cross Avenue Reille and take Rue Nansouty, which climbs to the right of Parc Montsouris.

(22) Turn right onto Square Montsouris. At no. 28, you will find a simple sundial. Turn back.

(22) Go straight ahead and enter Parc Montsouris. Turn right immediately and, at the fork that appears immediately, keep to the right. At the next fork, turn right again and walk past the headquarters of the French Astronomy Association. Then turn left into the park and continue straight ahead, ignoring the paths on the left, until you reach the observatory, located on the right-hand side of the path. Continue along Allée de Tunisie and cross the RER tracks. Turn right immediately, then right again to leave the park. You will find the RER station (line B) and the tram station (line T3a) Cité Universitaire (E) on your right.

Please be careful! Obey traffic signs and pay attention to all vehicles.

Please note that some places are not always accessible: building courtyards may be closed; events may prevent access to the Institut de France; religious services are held in churches. Do not force your way in and do not disturb anyone. The best day of the week to access as many sites as possible without any problems is Saturday. The observatory can only be visited on certain heritage days.

Bars, restaurants and sandwich shops are available along the route if you wish to stop for a drink or a bite to eat.

To read the time on the dials, the time difference linked to the longitude of Paris is -9 minutes, to which you must add the equation of time and 1 or 2 hours depending on whether it is winter or summer time.

Find out more about sundials, particularly the sundials of Paris.

The route focuses on points of interest related to the theme, but be sure to take in the monuments, architecture and landscape around you as you stroll through the many different neighbourhoods.