ET 2.01.b - Les Catacombes de Paris

Actual date of this event: 29 December

Luke and I had hopes of visiting the Catacombs first thing on Friday morning (day two). The night before we had done some extra research online and here are a few things we read that were helpful:
-only 200 people are allowed in at one time
-located 130 steps below ground and 83 steps back up to street level
-length of 2km all which is underground
-takes approx 45 minutes to go through the attraction
-admission is €8
-doors open at 10am
-last entry is at 4pm
-no flash photography
-cold, dark, damp and sometimes water drips from the ceiling
-many people expressed they waited 2hrs to get in
-many people expressed they waited 2 hrs and did not get in due to the 4pm last entry time
-general safety and health warning
With that being said, it sounded like a "secret-society" which got me pretty excited!

On Friday morning, Luke and I had a late start and did not arrive at the Catacombs until 10:45am. By this time, the line was around the corner, but didn't look too terrible. We did not know what expect, so we jumped in line. After only moving about 20 feet in 45 minutes, we decided that it would be best if we came back earlier the next day.

where we were in line on Friday morning

On Saturday morning, we were sure to get up when our alarms went off, and we were sure to be out the door at 9am. We took the metro and arrived at 9:25am. There were already about 100 people ahead of us in line and the doors weren't opening for another 35min. Luke got us some coffee while I held our spots in line. By the time the doors opened at 10am, the line was about where we were in line the day before. Thank goodness we decided to come as early as we did!

where we were in line on Saturday morning

When 10am came, we were very curious to see how the admission process worked. Since only 200 people were allowed inside at one time, would they let in 200 people all at once? Would they let in a little bit at time? We figured out the process after waiting about 15 minutes. A door man lets in about 10-15 people every 10 minutes. Let's think about why they do this... The whole attraction is 31 meters (approx 100 feet) below ground. There are really dark and narrow hallways. Having crowds of people is that little of space would cause major panic to some people, so its best to avoid that as much as possible.

the line in front of us

When it was our turn to enter, it was 10:45am. We waited 45 minutes after opening, but a total of 1hr 20min. That is a pretty long time, but we at least knew we were getting in soon. The day before, there was no telling how long it would be and we would have waited in a line for half of our sight-seeing day. We were #135 and #136 to enter the Catacombs.

Left: sign outside of the entry door with information and a few warnings

Middle: entry door

Right: a digital counter displays the number of people inside the Catacombs    

Entrance - When you enter the Catacombs, you go down a small spiral staircase. Since only a few people are let in at one time, Luke and I were alone going down this staircase (and most of the tour). Next, you enter a room with posters explaining some history of the quarries, catacombs, and ossuary. Basically, in 1780, the largest cemetery in Paris was closed due to public-health reasons. The Council of State decided that the bones from all of the city's cemeteries would be moved to the disused limestone quarries. This continued until 1860, and the catacombs were open for public viewing in the early 19th century.

shows the depth of the catacombs

Hallways - Like I said earlier, the hallways are narrow and dark and long. I can definitely see people having claustrophobia issues down there. And you know those nightmares you have where you are running from a killer and you cant see to find our way out of a building? There is some of that going on too. Anyway, the walls have inscriptions on them labeling the roads above and the work that was done in the corridors.

Workshop - A disused quarry with stacked pillars and stones that helped support the ceilings.

Port-Mahon - A sculpture of a town and fortress where a quarryman believed he was held prisoner.

Footbath - This clear water was used to mix cement used to build the Catacombs.

Ossuary - The sign above the entrance reads "Stop! This is the empire of death!"  The 780 meters of corridors are home to the human remains of some six million Parisians. The first bones were thrown into the corridors in 1786. About 25 years later, the bones and skulls were arranged to form a facade with bones behind. Throughout the corridors, you will find a few plaques and only one tombstone. During our visit, there were many sections closed off without reason.

You are not allowed to touch or take any bones, but someone couldn't resist with the touching.

Crypt of the Passion - The barrel hides a pillar that is supporting the ceiling. It was in this area that a secret mid-night concert was held in 1897.

Exit - Another spiral staircase leads you back up to street level. A man sits at the door keeping track of how many people exit the catacombs on Rue Remy Dumoncel.

This was a very interesting experience for me. I had never seen anything like it before and I am thankful to have gotten the chance. Was it worth it to arrive early and still wait 45 minutes to get in? Yes, because I may never seen something like this again. Would it have been worth it to wait the day before instead of leaving? No, because we had so many other things to see in Paris that our time was precious. If we had nothing else to do in Paris, then yes, I probably would have waited.

After visiting, I did some research online about ossuaries and catacombs. There are several ossuaries throughout Europe - Rome, Milan, Poland, Portugal, and more. There are also many churches throughout Europe that use human bones as decoration which I would love to see. Is it weird that I am interested in the display of human bones?

Coming up next: The Palace of Versailles

Other Posts from Paris: Day 1, Eiffel Tower, Day 2, Catacombes, Versailles, Day 4, Wrap-Up

RANDOM FACT:
A few types of bacteria have been discovered to thrive in Roman Catacombs. Ick.

-Debbie-

ET 2.01 - Paris, France (Day 2)

Actual date of this event: 28 December

After a sight-seeing packing first day in Paris, Luke and I were pretty exhausted. We sat down on Thursday evening and discussed our plan for Friday. We planned to take the Metro (or else we would have to walk 2.3 miles) to the Catacombs.  And then from there, we would make our way north toward the Cathedral of Notre-Dame walking through the 14th, 5th, 4th arrondissements.

Paris Metro Map

Since we have never lived anywhere with a subway, understanding this map was difficult at first.

Source of photo map: http://www.aparisguide.com/maps/metro.htm 

Due to me thinking Luke had set an alarm and Luke thinking I had set an alarm, we had a late start and arrived at the Catacombs at 10:45am which was too late for our liking. We decided to move forward with our plans and head north toward the city...

Panthéon - Originally built as a church but is now a mausoleum for some famous French folks such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo. Inside the Panthéon is a 67 meter long pendulum (if you LOVE physics, you've got to click on that link) hung from the center of the dome that demonstrates the rotation of the earth. The original was hung in 1851, but this is actually a copy. While we were watching, a worker came and grabbed the string and let it go, but it still continued to display the correct time. 

    

(click video below)

Left: Voltaire's tomb

Right: a hallway in the Crypt

Latin Quarter - This is a pretty neat little area of town that I wish we would have had time to go back to.

Pont de l'Archevêché -  the southeastern most bridge going to Île de la Cité (island in the city of Paris) which is the land of some of the most touristy spots in Paris. I have never seen so many love locks on a bridge! And it was at this point that we had a young boy come ask us if we speak English, I said yes, and he proceeded to point to a paper that said "Association for the Deaf and Blind" and right away Luke practically yelled "NO!" and the look on that boys face was priceless. I cracked up about it for a couple of minutes. Sounds cruel? Well we ain't falling for no scam! And if it wasn't a scam, well then...

Notre Dame de Paris - Do you know what Notre Dame stands for? It means Our Lady. Entry into the cathedral is free, but there is still a line to get in but it isn't too bad of wait. I'll be honest, it isn't the most beautiful church I have seen, but I have also seen a very long list of churches in my day. Don't get me wrong - it is for sure a beautiful church. I love going into cathedrals because they are all so unique in their own way. The stained glass and decoration is always so intricate and you can literally feel the history when inside. There is an option to climb one of the towers in Notre Dame but we declined because there was a wait, it was €8.50, it wasn't the clearest day and we still had other things to do.

Left: looking toward the altar

Right: looking toward the back of the cathedral

entrance door - beautiful sculpting!

Conciergerie - A former palace and prison. Reviews online convinced us that the wait and price of admission wouldn't make it worth it.

Sainte Chapelle - Talk about BEAUTIFUL! This is one of those things that pictures don't do it justice! For our visit, we waited a pretty good amount of time to get it but this is mostly due to a security check upon entrance. The chapel has THE MOST amazing stained glass I have ever seen. As I entered the room, I turned around to Luke and said "WOW" before even realizing I was speaking. The chapel provides a description of each window which you are supposed to read from bottom to top, left to right but it is pretty difficult to make clear of what is going on. But it was so pretty to look at! Definitely a highlight of the trip!

 bottom floor of the chapel - this was the less impressive level

Rue Montorgueil - This is a pretty neat little street. We stopped to have our first crepe at Deliziefollie. We also stopped for a glass of wine to wait for the sun to go down to take pictures of the pretty street lights. Speaking of which, multiple streets of Paris are lit up with lights. "City of Light"??

Nutella & Banana Crepes!

Rue Saint-Denis - another street full of shops and restaurants. This was where the younger (like high school) crowd was hanging out. And apparently there is a high amount of prostitution that takes place here. No pictures though because that's a little awkward.

Hôtel de Ville - city hall. The way they shined lights on it at night was just gorgeous! It also sparkled at night!

Pizza Vesuvio - Our spot for dinner before making our way back home for the night.

There's nothing like having Italian food in France! haha

Like I said in my previous blog, it it impossible to walk the streets of Paris without coming across something that makes you pull the camera back out. This is the opposite side of the Invalides where Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb is located. Very pretty building at night!

Picture by Luke, the great photographer!

We arrived back at the apartment around 7:30pm, and we were exhausted. We had a really big day one, and even though it doesn't sound like we did much, we still ended up walking around 10 miles on day two. We were lucky with no rain, but we didn't have sunny skies either but that's okay! We wanted to be up bright and early on day three for two important attractions - The Catacombs and The Palace of Versailles. Stay tuned for two separate blogs of day three!

Other Posts from Paris: Day 1, Eiffel Tower, Day 2, Catacombes, Versailles, Day 4, Wrap-Up

RANDOM FACT:

The Paris Metro which is short for metropolitan (subway system) has 14 lines with the longest being 15 miles. RER Trains are not included in this count.

-Debbie-

European Tour 2.01.a - Eiffel Tower

Actual date of this event: 27 December

For our first day in Paris, we had to do the most touristy thing before anything else: the Eiffel Tower!

Did you know the Eiffel Tower...

Is 1,036 feet tall, like an 81-story building?

Was completed in 1889?

Has 3 levels and 9 elevators?

Was built for the World's Fair?

Had an Austrian man die after jumping off the first level with his homemade parachute?

Had its cables cut by the French so Hitler and the Nazi's would have to take the stairs to hoist the Swastika?

Now that you are all knowledgeable and stuff about the Eiffel Tower, let's move on to our visit...

We left the apartment around 10am and went straight to the Parc du Champs-de-Mars (name of the Eiffel Tower park). We started at the opposite end, so we could take plenty of pictures as we got closer. After having a bad luck streak while traveling, we were due for some sunshine. Praise the Lord for bringing it to us for our climb! 
(Note: Online research suggests not purchasing tickets online days in advance because the weather changes day to day. If you are going to purchase tickets online, do it the day before or that morning to make sure you have clear weather for clear views. But of course, its up to you :-])

These two pictures were taking with two different cameras. The color difference is interesting to me.

Arriving at the tower, you will see 4 locations to take you to the top. We just so happened to get into the "stairs" line which was not a big deal to us, but we saw many others frustrated for waiting in the line only to find out they were in the incorrect line. The tower has 3 levels which you can "enjoy". We waited approximately 15 minutes to purchase tickets (€5) and then go through security (bag check and metal detector).  And we began our climb of 704 steps.

Right: The line behind us while we purchased tickets. It had grown quite a bit since we entered the line.

Shows the dimensions and three different levels of the tower.

Source of photo: http://elhongoescribe.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-eiffel-tower.html

 LADIES: If you dont wear some type of hat while going up the tower, your hair will become a mess.

Taking the stairs allows you to enjoy the views and take more pictures.

This is a picture of Parc du Champs de Mars, the Eiffel Tower park.

We arrived at Level 1 which had a very large deck with posters of the Eiffel Tower history and other signs explaining what you were viewing in the distance. This level also includes a restaurant, snack stand, a gift shop and a small museum. Oh, and bathrooms! Free bathrooms!! 

Left: looking west

Right: view of the Jardins du Trocadéro and Palais de Chaillot

We then kept climbing to Level 2. This level was much smaller and much more crowded. Yes, the tower gets skinnier as you move upward, but that's not the only reason why its packed. When you reach Level 2, the elevators stop here and all elevator people get off. So all stairs people and all elevator people gather here before going to the third level. And then the only option to the top is by elevator, no stairs. And to take that elevator, you gotta fork over more cash if you took the stairs from the ground (approx €5). While on this level, I got attacked by a group of tourists. A tour guide with a megaphone, decided to come and stand 3ft away from me which brought a crowd of 20 folks around me. So then, I was stuck, trying to break free of this crowd which resulted in me throwin' some 'bows.

Right: another view of Parc du Champs de Mars

looking north

Anyway, Luke and I enjoyed as many views as possible on Level 2 and with clouds rolling in and a long elevator line, we decided not to go to the top. The line to purchase lift tickets was forever long and then the elevator line was forever long, and we figured it would not be worth the time, the money and the aggravation of being on the teeny tiny top level. We made our way back down those 704 steps. As we got closer, we could see how much more the lines at the bottom had grown. Our 15 minutes of waiting earlier was nothing compared to what we witnessed at the bottom. Perfect timing because it started to rain as soon as we stepped back onto the ground level. 

This is one of the four entrance lines to go up the Eiffel Tower.

I feel we did the tower just perfectly. We had a great day that allowed us to see the city. And it is a beauty at night time! Must watch the video below...

Even though the Eiffel Tower is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world, it is a must when visiting Paris!

Plan to visit with kids? I found this website when doing research online. It has some great advice!

Other Posts from Paris: Day 1, Eiffel Tower, Day 2, Catacombes, Versailles, Day 4, Wrap-Up

RANDOM FACT: 

For 41 years, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world until New York City's Chrysler building surpassed it.

-Debbie-