aurouze

A Rat Lover's Tour of the World

"Originally founded in 1872, the shop itself has always specialized in pest control, or more specifically as rat killers. They are still in business today. Called the Julien Aurouze & Co and located on Rue des Halles close to Hotel de Ville, it has a very traditional and old-fashioned style frontage. What is unusual about the shop is the way they advertise their pest control skills; with storefront displays stuffed rats hanging from traps, taxidermied rats, and generally a bunch of stuffed dead rats. But despite being one of the more unusual shop windows in Paris, it still supplies numerous gadgets and other products for getting rid of unwanted pests, and if their window display doesn’t convince you they can get rid of your rats, nothing will. The store makes a brief appearance in the movie ‘Ratatouille.’ Remy is shown the storefront window by his wise old father as a warning to stay away from humans. Looking up at the dead rats he says, “This is what happens when a rat gets a little too comfortable around humans.”" - ATLAS_OBSCURA