Hey All,

After yesterday’s adventures, I uploaded my pictures to Facebook, but because of the epic amount of time that took, I postponed blogging until today (though I still plan to do two separate posts). 

Yesterday was our second full day in Paris, and I think that we really took advantage of it.  We started off at the Catacombs.  Though we got there exactly as it was opening, there was still about an hour’s wait to actually enter.  We finally made it through the line, got our tickets, and descended seven or eight stories underground.  Let me say off the bat, I had some expectations for the Catacombs, as I visited the ossuary outside of Prague a few years ago.  My expectations were not to be immediately presented with the geologic history of the area of the Catacombs.  Apparently, within the last few years, the museum has shifted to really focus on the geology of the area, so there was a lot of information about that throughout the exhibit.  Not that I mind geology – I don’t – but in terms of information presented, I feel like I got more out of that than I did the walls of bones.

The entire Catacombs area takes about 45 minutes to walk through.  Most of it is just your average tunnel, seven or eight stories below ground.  Maybe a quarter of the tunnel system actually has information, or stone carvings, or bones.  Truth be told, I was a lot less at ease walking down the average poorly-lit tunnels with barred off entrances to other tunnels than I was in any of the areas with bones.  Not sure why, just somehow eerier where I expected to be creeped out less.  In terms of the areas with bones, it’s completely overwhelming.  I have a very hard time conceptualizing the skulls and walls of hip bones as living, breathing people.  Part of that probably has to do with the sheer scale of the individual skeletons, and part may have to do with the arrangement of bones.  You’re not seeing a single skeleton, laid out and arranged as if the person had just died – you’re seeing piles of femurs that make up the walls, and artistic arrangements of hundreds of skulls each (much less artistic, I might add, than the arrangements in Prague).  That said, it was a cool, creepy experience to be that far underground, with very little light, and very unique décor.  Certainly worth doing, but I’m not sure that if I came back to Paris, I would do it again.

 

After the Catacombs, we (Becky, Rachel, Ashley (one of Rachel’s friends from RMC who is studying abroad in Stockholm), and one of her friends – Roxanne – who is also studying abroad (from Canada) in Stockholm) went out for lunch.  After all the waiting in line, we were looking for something fairly quick, so we ended up going to an Asian restaurant and having sushi (which was very good).  Post lunch, we split up, with me, Becky, and Rachel heading toward the Seine River, in the general direction of the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay.  It was a really nice day, so we took our time wandering along the river.  One of the coolest things that we stopped at was the lock bridge.  Initially, I thought that this was pretty much the most romantic thing ever.  Couples purchase a lock, engrave their names on it, clip it to the bridge, and throw the key into the river.  ADORABLE.  However, due to the ever-present power of Google, Becky was able to find out that this is something that this was started by tourists, and is actually not something that the French are all that excited about.  Apparently, the locks end up weighing a lot, and so they’ve done significant damage to the infrastructure of the bridge.  So much so, that the locks had to be moved to a second bridge, so that repairs could be completed.  So… as usual… there are two sides to every story.

When we got to the Musee d'Orsay (after having taken the requisite photos at the Louvre), Rachel went to the museum, and Becky and I headed back to the hostel for an hour, prior to meeting the whole group at the Eiffel Tower a little bit before sunset.  The line to get up to the Tower was pretty extensive, but obviously this was a tourist attraction that just had to happen.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get to the top (it was closed), but we did get to the second level.  The gentleman taking tickets was very nice – apparently if you’re under the age of 24 you get a rate decrease.  He asked me how old I was, and I told him I was 25.  He gave me the reduced rate anyway, because I didn’t lie to him about it.  I can appreciate that.  The Tower itself was awesome, and we were there to see the sunset over Paris, the Tower light up, and then to see the flashing lights for a brief period (during which time we took pictures constantly).  So cool.

Maybe the only negative to the day was that on the way back, we took the Metro, and Ashley got caught in the equivalent of a toll checker’s speed trap.  She wasn’t able to produce her validated Metro ticket, and was forced to pay 30 euro on the spot for that lapse.  I think that was the first time that I’ve ever had to actually produce my validated ticket on the Metro.  I remember having to do it on the busses in Marburg, but other than that, new experience.  To make up for Ashley’s negative experience, we decided to have dinner at the Paris Hard Rock Café, which was kinda fun.  I think that the only one I’ve been is in Boston.

Overall, I’m calling Sunday, September 23, a pretty unqualified win.  More next time!

Catherine