Rue Mouffetard

Right now it smells pretty good here. Fresh bread, maybe some cheese, a hint of coffee. Enjoy it. Because for a long stretch of this street's very long life, the smell was something far less appetizing. The name Mouffetard comes from "mofette," meaning toxic fumes, or simply from the French word for skunk. In the 18th century, this was the heart of Paris's tanning district, where animal hides were stripped and left to rot. The stench was legendary.

And yet people never left. They have been walking this exact route for over 2,000 years. The Romans used this ridge as their main road south out of Lutetia, long before Paris even had a name.

In 1938, workers demolishing number 53 knocked through a false wall and found over 3,300 gold coins minted under Louis XV. A royal secretary named Nivelle had hidden them for his daughter. He died in 1757. She never found them.

Hemingway lived just around the corner and called this street wonderful, then immediately added it was dirty, wet, and full of drunks. Honestly, that sounds about right for somewhere this alive.