#22733 Sipping Mint Tea in the Grande Mosquée's Secret Garden in Paris

Parisians and visitors walk right past the Great Mosque and never think to step inside, let alone to enjoy fresh mint tea and North African desserts amid the arches and mosaics of a Moorish-style secret garden. The Mosque was built as a tribute the fallen WWI soldiers from the French colonies, and in a similar return of gratitude the Mosque opened a cultural center complete with tearoom, hammam, and souk. Sip mint tea in the inner patio and lose yourself to the sounds of gurgling fountains and chirping sparrows, the scent of apple tobacco, and hundreds of faces and languages in what feels like the world we wish we lived in.