Back in the Depths of the Earth

In the depths of the catacombs


Carving in the rock

Today's inside visit was to the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris. I had missed seeing the ones in Vienna because they were only open in the afternoon and on our one day there we had an afternoon tour of a palace. So I was looking forward to getting to see the ones here. If I thought I was a little morbid for wanting to go there, I was reassured when I got there and the line to get in was three quarters of the way around the block -- and most of the people in line seemed perfectly normal, like the neighbors who always say "hi" and wave when they see you. The museum does cap the number of visitors inside the catacombs at one time at two hundred, so it wasn't quite the same as the line to get into the Eiffel Tower, but we waited for about an hour and a half to get in. It was worth the wait. The only drawback was that they asked that no flash photography be done, so what pictures I took were basically black and blacker, as the lighting was not the best. One of the reasons I wanted to see this place is because I have read a series of mysteries set in Paris/France during World War II (by J. Robert Janes). One of the books climaxes with the French detective clashing with the murderer in the depths of the catacombs with the lights out. The French Resistance had their headquarters here, and it would be easy to "get lost" among the many tunnels before they were blocked off to keep the tourists from roaming. There are over a hundred steps down to the burial level, and about ninety going out at the exit. Near the entrance are several sculptures carved out of the stone, reminescent of the ones in the Polish salt mines near Krakow. As you move deeper into the underground passages, you come to the stacks of bones that were placed here when they were moved from the Cemetery of the Innocents during the 18th Century. It was thought that moving the bodies out of the cemetery and into the catacombs would halt the spread of disease. Under Napoleon, the bones were arranged into patterns with rows of skulls alternating with rows of other bones. Some of the other bones that were brought in after the French Revolution belonged to such famous people as Robespierre and possibly even Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Towards the end of the tunnel are several places where one can look up and see great caverns in the roof where there had been a collapse. Today the roof is repaired with injections of concrete whenever it gets shaky. Otherwise the cars traveling above might suddenly find themselves in a huge sinkhole. While this type of museum might not be for everyone (their website warns that it is not for those suffering with "nervous disease"), it was a very interesting way to spend the morning.




Today was our day for contrast photos. This sign for free Wi-Fi in the park was in direct contrast to all the trouble we were having at the hotel uploading photos and staying on the Internet. This is an example of irony!