Today was a big day for us. A lot to get accomplished. Luckily, my earplugs worked like a charm…even to the point where Vero had to scramble to turn the alarm clock off because I couldn’t hear it!
We finished off some croissants and baguette before hitting the road for the Catacombs. A little personal history on the place…I had come to Paris in 2005 and was excited to see the catacombs. Unfortunately the guide book I had was a year out of date and it turned out that the catacombs were closed for the year for renovations! Vero and I were quite excited to see the catacombs today.
We met a man from Manhattan in the lineup whose name was Scott. He was quite entertaining and he said he used to be a dancer/singer and now is a tour guide in New York. I was entertained by his tales and it made for the wait to get in a lot faster.
I feel like a hobbit. Note the black line on the ceiling…this was to lead the way to the ossuary considering there were multiple paths within the catacombs for workers. Can I also point out that originally when it was opened to the public, people went down by candlelight?!
We descended 20m into the earth where the catacombs lie. The quick history of the catacombs is that they were mined for rock to be used in the development of the city buildings. But at one point in the 1770s they realized that the left bank was getting fragile and to the point of near collapse into the earth so they halted mining. Fast forward 100 years and there were debated practices of burying the dead overtop of the dead and their decomposing bodies entering into the well water which caused outbreaks of illness. Finally, it was decided that the graves needed to be moved into a safer locale…mass cemeteries were created, but what to do with the six million original inhabitants? A move to the unused catacombs was ordered and six million bodies were moved. When I say bodies, I’m assuming it was a mix of bones and bodies which were turned into bones because all there is now are bones.
Unfortunately for awesome pictures, no flash was allowed.
The catacombs were quite amazing. 2km of tunnels underneath the city of Paris where you can see how people excavated rock. Later on in the tunnels, you come upon the ossuary, the Empire of the Dead (which is stated before entering). Within there, you find bones which look like arms/legs piled upon one another and then a row of skulls once in awhile to act as a buffer I’m assuming. I heard a tour guide say that the bones go as far back as five meters and stand around 8 feet high. Vero and I spent an hour walking through these bones. It was incredible. It’s not hard to imagine that there are six million inhabitants there.
My best imitation of a skull. Wait, that’s not right. I should be respecting the dead.
I personally think that this one of the highlights of my trip, even comparing my first trip to Europe! Vero seemed to enjoy it as well.
Vero looks right at home.
After escaping the catacombs, we re-oriented ourselves and headed towards the Latin Quarter as per Uncle Gerry’s suggestion. It was an interesting area of town and we had a great sandwich, while touring les Jardins de Louxembourg. I found it interesting to see kids playing in the garden and realized that they don’t have much else to play in. This is indeed a city, where there is not much greens to visit with your children. Quite different from Ottawa.
Something being filmed. Quite neat!
The most beautiful woman to me, in front of a beautiful palace.
Notre Dame cathedral was our next stop. I never seem to get tired of churches…I marvel at their architecture. I can’t imagine buildings like these being built nowadays…if only we had the foresight to create majesty such as this. I can’t even fathom how someone at the back of the church could hear the priest back in the day…this hall must stretch to a good half kilometre and has some of the most amazing stained glass windows I have ever seen (next to my mother’s creations of course!).
Which one is the hunchback at this point?
Our feet were getting pretty sore throughout the day and we were getting tired. We both bought new hiking shoes and I find one of them is digging into the side of my heel a little too much, to the point of constant discomfort. But we both realize that this is only Day 3 of the trip and that we have to build up our endurance and callouses!
We went to the Centre Pampidou which turned out to be a National Arts Centre which was closed for the day, and then headed down towards Le Bastille which is a relic of the Bastille prison which stands in the middle of a roundabout. At this point, we realized that we weren’t all that far from our apartment (only an hour walk) so we decided to walk back and find a shop that could sell us an SDHC card reader. The funniest thing was that we eventually found one on Desmanil which was a few blocks from our place. Turns out that there 18 other computer stores right next to each other this street! I wondered why we couldn’t find any others in town!
Losing patience and energy, we bought some food and drink for the night and returned back to the apartment around 5PM. It was a long day but we got a lot accomplished and it was a lot cooler today than it was yesterday. It was MUGGY yesterday. Guh.
After a well deserved nap, we awoke around 8PM, and settled in for what we figured is a Parisien meal…a salad, a baguette, some dijon mustard, some patisserie, and some great cheese. Also, a bottle of wine was necessary! I had a good laugh when Vero attempted to open the bottle and nearly had it, but just couldn’t finish the job. Vero also surprised me with a lovely desert she snuck out to buy…an eclair and a mille feuille. We both really enjoyed the eclair and we are enjoying the night in the apartment in Paris with some wine and thoughts of what the Louvre has to offer us tomorrow. 1.5 more days in Paris and it doesn’t seem enough!
I just asked Vero what she loved about today and she said “I loved spending time with you! Plus I’m drinking wine!” HA. Also she loved the fact that if I owned a Hotel de Ville (city hall), I would call it Centre Rigidougidouuuuu.
Vero also points out that her legs are sore, but she is loving relaxing right now with a book and some french music. We’re trying to find a National radio station with only accordion music, but have failed to find any. Shouldn’t that be mandatory?
This should be the sign in front of a really boring person’s house.