One of the main purposes of this page is to inform you of the little gems hidden in plain side throughout Paris and this one is sure to be walked past by hundreds of clueless tourists on a daily basis. I’m no collector of fine art (especially modern art- ew gag me) and all I know about Salvador Dali is that he is the creator of various trippy paintings depicting melting clocks and watches,
Dali lived in Paris in the 60’s/70’s where he used to go for walks with his pet anteater, he was the wrapper designer of Chupa Chump lollipop, and he had one hell of a moustache. But hey, you can find all of this on google yourself. You are here for the secrets right? Well here’s one most people walk by and have no idea even exists..
If you walk along the historic Rue Saint Jacques, not far from Notre Dame cathedral, be sure to look up (but also keep an eye out for those god damn annoying electric scooters) so you don’t miss the sun dial he left behind near number 27.
There isn’t much information on this footprint left behind by Dali other than it was painted here by him in 1966 and revealed in a ceremony that included a brass band and his anteater. The image seems to be a combination of the artist (note the ‘stache) and a shell- probably representive of the pilgrimage route Saint Jacques de Compostella which follows its namesake Rue Saint Jacques through Paris all the way down to northwestern Spain. (Dali was Spanish) If you look in the bottom right corner you can see his signature; and the year it was placed here.
Paris History of our Streets 