Methodology & sources
Brilliant Paris combines hand-written texts, each fact checked in at least two sources, with open data recomputed every week. Nothing is mass-produced: 36 places, 8 writers, five history threads and six walks.
Sources and licences
| Source | Used for | Licence | Data checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ville de Paris, Arrondissements | Map; each place’s arrondissement (computed) | ODbL 1.0 | 2026-10-31 |
| Ville de Paris, Plaques commémoratives | 1334 plaques for writers, artists, places and events; plaques near each place | ODbL 1.0 | 2026-10-31 |
| Ville de Paris, Dénominations des voies | Official street lengths (distance validation) | ODbL 1.0 | 2026-10-29 |
| Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée | 1893 protected monuments in Paris; each place’s protection and date | Licence Ouverte 2.0 | 2026-10-29 |
| Wikidata | Coordinates of places, 338 Métro stations (lines 1 to 14), works in the collections | CC0 | 2026-10-31 |
| © OpenStreetMap contributors | Walking network (618644 nodes) for distances and routes; the Seine and canals | ODbL 1.0 | |
| Base Adresse Nationale | Checking coordinates | Licence Ouverte 2.0 | 2026-10-31 |
| Wikimedia Commons | Photographs and reproductions of works, credited on each page | Public domain, CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA (per file) | |
| Project Gutenberg, Wikisource | Public-domain texts for the quotations | Public domain |
The files this site derives from ODbL databases and publishes (plaques.json, walk.json) are themselves available under ODbL 1.0. Brilliant Paris’s texts are original; they do not reuse Wikipedia.
What is computed
- Arrondissement: the place’s point (Wikidata, or a precise street address when the item is a street or a wall) is located in the official arrondissement polygons.
- Nearest Métro: among stations on lines 1 to 14 within 2.5 km, the one nearest on foot, by the shortest path on OpenStreetMap’s walking network (not as the crow flies). Lines 15 to 18, which open in stages outside Paris, are not counted.
- Walking distances: Dijkstra’s algorithm over 618644 nodes of streets, passages, steps and paths (ways tagged private or closed to pedestrians are left out). Times at 4.5 km/h (75 m a minute), rounded; the “leisurely” pace uses 60 m/min and “brisk” 90 m/min.
- Plaques nearby: plaques in the City’s dataset within 250 m, as the crow flies, of the place.
- Protection: the Mérimée record linked to the place in Wikidata, with its listing dates.
- Plan your own walk: for eight places or fewer, every order is tried (optimal); beyond that, nearest neighbour then 2-opt improvement.
Validation
Walking distances against official street lengths
For long, straight streets we compute the walking distance between their two ends and compare it with the official length published by the City. Median difference: 2.2%.
| Street | Official length | Computed | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| rue de Rivoli | 3070 m | 3083 m | +0.4 % |
| rue La Fayette | 2830 m | 2879 m | +1.7 % |
| rue de Rennes | 1195 m | 1225 m | +2.5 % |
| boulevard Voltaire | 2850 m | 2914 m | +2.2 % |
| rue de Vaugirard | 4360 m | 4412 m | +1.2 % |
| boulevard Haussmann | 2530 m | 2624 m | +3.7 % |
| rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine | 1810 m | 1850 m | +2.2 % |
| boulevard de Sébastopol | 1332 m | 1377 m | +3.4 % |
| rue de Tolbiac | 2715 m | 2684 m | -1.1 % |
| boulevard Saint-Michel | 1380 m | 1468 m | +6.4 % |
| avenue de la Grande Armée | 775 m | 840 m | +8.4 % |
| rue Saint-Jacques | 1550 m | 1568 m | +1.2 % |
| avenue d'Italie | 1294 m | 1305 m | +0.9 % |
Nearest Métro against official websites
For the 16 places whose official site names access stations, the computed station is in the official list in 13 cases.
Where they differ the computed station is still the nearer one on foot: Place Monge is closer than Jussieu to the arena's rue Monge entrance, Pont Marie is closer than Saint-Paul to the Hôtel de Sens, and the City lists Porte Dorée for the Coulée verte because it describes the far (eastern) end, while our point is the Bastille end.
Arrondissements and coordinates
The computed arrondissement matches the postcode of the address for 36 of 36 places.
Distance between the Wikidata point and the address point in the Base Adresse Nationale: median 24 m; 1 places more than 150 m apart (Hôpital Saint-Louis (historic quadrangle) 228 m). The Hôpital Saint-Louis point is the 17th-century quadrangle, inside the hospital, not its street address.
Quotations
Every quotation is compared word for word (spaces and apostrophes normalised) with the text of the edition cited: 19 of 19 found verbatim.
Dates
Every date in the texts was checked in at least two independent sources; where they disagree, or where a date is traditional rather than documented, the page says so in the “Uncertain or disputed” box and the timeline flags it.
What this site does not do
No opening hours or prices (they change): every page links to the official site instead. No advertising, no affiliate links, no restaurants or shops recommended.