Paris: Catacombs, escargot & Royal Gardens

One thing on my "must, must do list" was the catacombs -my Dad did not take us there when I was in Paris at age 15...it was creepy and I'm glad he didn't!- so it was something new. An Australian girl in my hostel room, Allison, was also going so we headed over together. On my whole trip, this was the longest line I waited in- about 45 minutes. We ended up taking to the people behind us in line who were young French students and really nice. (so nice that they translated the French explanations for us once we were in the catacombs!)

Carvings as you go into the catacombs.

The entry was a reasonable €4, and I have to say it was the creepiest thing I have probably ever done/ ever will do (I can't imagine anything creepier)...before you enter there is even a sign in latin that says "HALT! This is the empire of death!"

Photo from google search- but it was in Nat Geo (I think) originally. It's impossible to take pictures in the catacombs since there is no flash allowed, but I would google "catacombs pictures" you'll get a pretty good idea of what it was like walking thru them. Like the above picture... except 2 miles worth!

It was really incredibly earie...there is no better way to describe it. The passage ways go on forever- when you think about how many people this is it's mind boggling and made me feel quite small and insignificant. And it's all sorts of people- from the poorest to the richest -Marie Antoinette's sister in law is definitely in the catacombs and some people believe both Marie Antoinette and her husband are as well, which could be true there is certainly no way to prove or disprove it, since they were created up to 1810 and were created by emptying out old cemeteries and mass graves of the poor because all the cemeteries were overflowing and creating a health hazard. 

Souvenirs at the Catacombs

Also interesting is that you are searched on the way out, since apparently bone theft is a huge problem there. Unbelievable! But after being searched for bones, Allision and I decided to go to lunch (amazing that I had an appetite after seeing loads of bones, but I was starving!).

We went to a French cafe and tried escargot-

Which was actually really quite good. My main meal was a hamburger though- I'm so American :)

Then Allison headed to the louvre and I went to walk thru some gardens before I called it a day-