So today after work I wandered along the Seine for a bit and sat on the north bank to enjoy some sun (finally!!!). I was mostly just wasting time because I planned to try my luck at the Catacombs again, but later in the day like the lady from the tourist office recommended. I also checked out the last of the dinner location options for the birthday dinner, which is what I did for a lot of yesterday. I've narrowed it down to three. Verjus, on the northwest corner of the Palais Royal gardens, but not actually in the gardens. And then Les Bouquinistes, on the south side of the Seine, just past the Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle. And then I thought up a new option, a river boat dinner cruise along the Seine. It's actually a comparable price and the timing would work after the music concert we plan to go to in the Saint Chapelle. So that's another good option. But anyway, after this I made my way back to the Catacombs. The line was just under half of what it had been so I decided to wait. It was a solid hour and 15m before I got to the ticket window, which means that the line I saw the other day had to have been around 3 hours. SO glad I didn't wait. It was a nice day so the waiting didn't feel like it took too long. Finally I made it in and down a narrow curving spiral staircase that seemed to take forever.
So part of the catacombs, like the pictures above, was part of the old Paris mine tunnel network. There are still large portions of these under the different arrondissements (sections) of Paris but it is against the law to travel around them, unless you specifically come to this location. After the section of mined tunnels is where the catacombs actually begin. It consists of the skeletons of over 6 million people, most coming from the overflowing cemeteries of Paris that were moved to the catacombs for space reasons. This started in the 1780s and after 1810 when Louis-Étienne took over renovations, he turned it into a mausoleum of sorts, instead of just a place to dump the bones. Slowly through the years people were allowed to visit the site and the demand grew until 1900 when they allowed daily visits.
"Stop! This is the empire of the dead."
I found out after the walk that it is a one-way trip, not a circular route, so you end up a ways from the beginning. Fortunately I have GPS on my phone so I found my way with little difficulty, but I was a full metro stop south of where I had started. So on my walk to the closest stop I walked past this awesome medieval looking shop. Had to snap a quick picture. Makes me excited to hit up the Colorado Ren Fest when I get back! Next trip: 3 DAYS IN LONDON!!!! Hopefully the Brexit didn't screw up things too much.
So part of the catacombs, like the pictures above, was part of the old Paris mine tunnel network. There are still large portions of these under the different arrondissements (sections) of Paris but it is against the law to travel around them, unless you specifically come to this location. After the section of mined tunnels is where the catacombs actually begin. It consists of the skeletons of over 6 million people, most coming from the overflowing cemeteries of Paris that were moved to the catacombs for space reasons. This started in the 1780s and after 1810 when Louis-Étienne took over renovations, he turned it into a mausoleum of sorts, instead of just a place to dump the bones. Slowly through the years people were allowed to visit the site and the demand grew until 1900 when they allowed daily visits.
"Stop! This is the empire of the dead."
I found out after the walk that it is a one-way trip, not a circular route, so you end up a ways from the beginning. Fortunately I have GPS on my phone so I found my way with little difficulty, but I was a full metro stop south of where I had started. So on my walk to the closest stop I walked past this awesome medieval looking shop. Had to snap a quick picture. Makes me excited to hit up the Colorado Ren Fest when I get back! Next trip: 3 DAYS IN LONDON!!!! Hopefully the Brexit didn't screw up things too much.
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