Mona Lisa keeps smiling through the heat thanks to Paris's best kept secret

The underground cooling system snakes beneath Parisians' feet 
Mona Lisa keeps smiling through the heat thanks to Paris's best kept secret

The Louvre museum. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

The Mona Lisa may maintains her famously enigmatic smile because she benefits from one of Paris's best-kept secrets: an underground cooling system that has helped the Louvre cope with the sweltering heat that has broken temperature records across Europe.

The little-known "urban cold" network snakes beneath unsuspecting Parisians' feet at a depth of up to 98ft (30m), pumping icy water through 55 miles (89km) of labyrinthine pipes, which is used to chill the air in more than 700 sites.

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