3 a.m. - Rat Catchers

The store’s only open by day, but if you’re hankering after a little late-night taxidermy, fill your eyes at Julien Aurouze and Co. The exterminator’s shop-front clearly displays their expertise: dead rats dangle in the window and the sign above promises to destroy ‘harmful animals’. Open since 1872, the shop also featured in the Disney film Ratatouille.

Julien Aurouze and Co: www.aurouze.fr

3 a.m. - Dead Lock

If it’s dark and it’s late then it’s the perfect time to check out the Lock of the Dead on Canal Saint-Martin. Located near a Merovingian cemetery and the infamous Montfaucon gallows – where offenders were hanged in groups of sixteen and left to rot – if you close your eyes you may still catch a whiff of the scent of decay. In this café-packed area, though, it’s more likely to be last night’s dinner than what’s leftover on the gallows.

Les Écluses des Morts: Rue Louis Blanc on Canal St-Martin.