Afternoon in Paris

After the big walk of the morning and the lovely lunch, we set off by Metro to visit  the Catacombs.

In the 17th Century the graveyards were not only full, but declared a health hazard and closed.  The bodies were all dug up and the bones of everyone moved to the limestone quarry, which was south of one of the city gates.  Now quite central in Paris, and easily reached by Metro/RER.

We had a bit of difficulty finding the entrance, as it looked like a public toilet!  Then paid, and a walk down a winding staircase that went round and round till you were 20 metres underground.  Below the sewers and the Metro.

A long 500m walk in a dark stone corridor, and a bit claustrophobic if the truth be known.  We finally reached the ossary.  What an amazing walk through corridors of bones, they say the bones of 6 million parisiennes lie there.  The front of the piles are decorated with long bones and skulls in a pattern and then all the other bones are piled in heaps behind.  It was actually quite a sobering experience, and we loved it.

Also some carvings by 18thC quarrymen

We took about 40 mins to walk around and then a 18th Century winding staircase took us back up to road level where you pop out under some houses.

I would highly recommend.