Can you imagine what early handcuffs looked - and felt - like ? Ouch ! They’re there. As are: a genuine guillotine blade, perhaps used on the murderer of a nearby victim’s punctured skull, and stark temporary exhibits.

A recent one of these documented oh-so-graphically the trials and tribulations of bagnards - forced-labor convicts transported to hellish camps in e.g. New Caledonia and French Guyana as late as 1953. Among them was the escapee-author of 1970s U.S. best-seller Papillon.

Address:
4 rue de la Montagne Sainte Geneviève
Paris 5th district
Open Monday through Friday 9 a.m.>5 p.m.
Free entry (except for executed criminals)
Metro station: Maubert-Mutualité

For wine buffs I can think of no place better than the Musée du Vin (Wine Museum). It opened its doors in 1984, and hunkers in 13th century quarries reconverted in the 16th-17th centuries by monks to store their wine (grapes grew abundantly on the Passy slopes, now facing the Eiffel Tower).

Ranging through time from Roman domination, and signposted by mini-Bacchus figures, displays include viticulturists’ tools, a barrel-maker’s workshop, and vessels for testing, storing, transporting and consuming the beverage.

The visit ends with... wine-tasting. You can also lunch there. Thermal springs once flowed here, so the Wine Museum is on... rue des Eaux: Water Street!

Address:
Rue des Eaux - 5, square Charles Dickens -
Paris 16th district
Open Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m.>6 p.m.
Entry: €8 (includes that glass)
Metro station: Passy

(This article is a collaborative between Phil Chavanne, Senior Editor, and Arthur Gilette, a regular contributor to www.Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com. Both are more than happy to share their in-depth knowledge of Paris.)