The Catacombs was first on our adventure list on Friday. Once we arrived at the entrance, we saw that there was a queue. And we walked and walked and walked past the never ending line of people ALL the way around the block. Seems like everybody had the same idea as us! It ended up being a solid two hour wait to get in. But it was worth it.
During our wait, Tammy ate a chocolate eclair, I ate a chicken-tomato-salad-‘mustard baguette, Tammy started a new book, and I snuck into the McD’s bathroom. Or should I say toilette?? And I say “sneak” because it seems like in Europe you either need to pay or be a patron to use any bathroom.
Our entrance ticket was half off since we are both under 26. We were first in our group to enter and we descended down over 120 narrow winding stairs to get underground. We were below where the metro lines run. In fact, we were so deep underground, that if we were to “date” the rock layer that we were at, it would have been around 65 million years ago. There were some markings in the quarries too that indicated plate tectonic action – suggesting that this was from the formation of the Alps.
As you can see, we were far below the earth. The deeper we went the chillier it became. The air had a thick dense dewy feel to it. At some point the cave tunnel’s ceiling was so low that we didn’t have to reach to touch it. So exciting for short girls.
We finally reached the entrance of the Catacombs. It is an ossuary. Back on the 1770s, there was a cemetery called Cemetery of the Innocents that was becoming a health hazard for the nearby residents. It was decided that the remains were going to be moved underground and since then, there haven been any cemeteries in Paris. About 6 million Parisian graves were moved.
This really doesn’t sound TOO bad, until you see how they arranged the human remains. The underground tunnels are lined for a solid kilometer with bones. And the skulls are almost decoratively placed among the leg bones. At first sight it was rather shocking. As we walked along it became eerier. I almost wondered, when is it going to stop!?! It was unbelievable how far the walls of bones stretched. I know the grounds are sacred to Parisians, but it did feel a little morbid. Even more so when you wrap your head around the fact that those were REAL people.
Dr. Tammy loved analyzing the bones. Yep, she is going to shine in med school. When we emerged from the great underground, we had no idea where we were. No worries though, our amazing navigation skills (and our stomachs) led us to an excellent place that served French Onion Soup. After being surrounded by skeletons for so long, comfort food like soup is all that’s gonna cut it. Definitely no meat.
I would recommend a visit to the catacombs for those who aren’t weak in the stomach and can handle lots of stairs and walking. What was great about this tour (and probably the reason why the wait to enter was so long) was that they don’t allow many people in at a time – therefore it seems rather empty and doesn’t get too claustrophobic.
It was extremely dark inside, so i wasn’t able to snap too many quality pictures with my phone. Enjoy the photos!
