Paris Museum of Erotica (Musee Erotisme) - Paris, France

The line between art and pornography is usually drawn by this phrase: "I know it when I see it." This century, though, yesterday's taboos have become tomorrow's advertisements and what was your corner sex shop might now be regarded as educational and artistic in its execution. But it'd still be pretty unfair to call the Paris Museum of Erotica just some glorified sex shop--few areas know the art of eroticism like Paris, the land of the Moulin Rouge, and the owners of the museum have taken great care to create something that appeals to the mind as much as it might to the gonads. Stumble upon the first exhibits of ancient Japanese phallic sandals, the Aztec fertility idols and Chinese ceramic pornographic sculpture and you'll probably be thankful for modern technological advances. But it doesn't stop with Stone-Age love-makin'--there are multiple levels at the museum, some shining a light on the underground brothels and bordellos frequented by the politicians and stars of old until they were officially illegal in France in 1946, and an immeasurable amount of other paintings, photos and artifacts of all kinds and time periods. So you're convinced this could be a cool place, but you're worried about being seen as a creep? Relax--the museum, while situated in a somewhat seedy district, attracts non-perverted people of all ages and backgrounds, and they're all willing to forget social norms to explore what drives this powerful part of the id. So you can keep the mustache and glasses in the closet.