Saint-Michel Notre-Dame - a classic metro entrance.

Saint-Michel–Notre-Dame has one of those Paris Metro entrances that is worth stopping to look at before heading underground. The sweeping cast-iron forms, curved lettering and red lamps are the work of Hector Guimard, whose Art Nouveau designs became the distinctive face of the early Paris Metro.

Guimard created 167 Metro entrances, of which 88 survive today. Most use the characteristic green cast iron and the plant-like forms seen here, with the word “Métropolitain” picked out above the entrance. Surviving Guimard entrances were protected as historic monuments in 1978 and rightly so!

Happy Monday everyone!

“Every journey begins somewhere — in Paris, it often begins underground.”

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Part of the “Metro Mondays” Series

Each Monday, we travel beneath Paris — tracing its stories, moods, and motion through the tunnels that carry the week into being.

Browse the full series

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