Frankly Cross Eyed: Paris - Les Catacombes

Today, we ventured on different paths - the Bro to the Lourve, the Dad to see some more long lost friends. Me? I was heading to Les Catacombes!

I've wanted to visit an ossuary for some time now. I don't think I have a morbid fascination with bones but I'm just not freaked out by them. Seeing a neatly stacked display wouldn't make me lose sleep. Not that I'm trying to be insensitive to the remains of those who may have died under violent and political circumstances e.g the displays of The Killing Fields. Of course that is very sad.

The Paris Catacombs are not associated with any such aforementioned activity. Rather, they contain the bones of those who were unable to afford a proper burial and back in Medieval times that pretty much was everyone except for the obscenely wealthy. No less deserving of respect but that's how things were done back then. Mass graves were the norm for centuries but as you can imagine, sanitation wasn't up to scratch and decomposing bodies weren't exactly the best addition to the water collected from a well. Destroying the bones wasn't an option so the government in the 1700s decided to relocate the remains of six million or so people to the outskirts of Paris. The city has since grown and this is now in arr 14, right outside Denfert-Rochereau station.

The official website doesn't exactly allude to the fact that the entrance took the form of a not very official looking, non-descript green shed. Finding the catacombs isn't hard but the entrance can be easily missed if you're not observant.

My task was made easier when I saw people queuing outside the all important shed.

Entrance to the catacombs is staggered to only allow 200 ppl at a time. The temperature is a cool 14 degrees so it's the place to go to get some respite from warm summer days. I smartly brought my jacket.

After queuing for about 20 minutes (short by Parisian standards) I paid my €8 entrance fee and made my way down the stairs.

Down we go. No toilets from here on in.

The catacombs consist of many kilometres of tunnels but only 2km is open to the public. It's a one way walk so there's no chance of getting lost/trapped unless you purposely try and find an alternative track.

No alternative track here.

After descending the stairs, you still need to walk through a long tunnel before reaching the ossuary. I was on my own for the most part of this section - other tourists came in packs. It's a bit slippery with water dripping from who knows where, so wear good grippy shoes.

Just me and my footsteps.

Not the most exciting job but good on him!

No flash photography is allowed and the dSLR folk were out in full force. Another lone tourist took this photo of me. I thinking too hard about whether to smile, remain stoic or put on a sad face.

So my face ended up like this.

I realised that I had accidentally touched a skull while positioning myself. :-S

I had skipped the offer of an audio tour at the entrance on the assumption there would be lots of information plaques to read. Alas there were only a few and after a while (it sounds a bit insensitive to say this) I kinda got bored. I thought there would be displays of bone chandeliers and errrr artistic arrangments. But no, for the most part, femurs and tibias were stacked in a neat, concise and space efficient manner.

Very neat piles.

A skull stick man.

Make a wish!

The bell tower. The bell shaped forms as the quarry ceiling collapses around weakened areas. It has since been reinforced.

The catacombs exit opens on to a back street with no clear instructions how to get back to the station. That is what maps are for. I wouldn't put the catacombs on the must-see list. It's definitely not for everyone but for those who do go, read up about the history and take an audio tour for a better appreciation.

The Dad, the Bro and I all reconvene back the hotel set off to visit one of our fake-relatives. He had the the biggest puddy-tat with the biggest eyes I've ever seen.