On my last trip to Paris I wanted to see the Catacombs, but I couldn't find them. So, this morning I headed off early to hunt them down. Actually, they're easy to spot because of the length of the queue leading from the entrance. I waited an hour in the queue which was fine although I was next to a very annoying Australian family.
The Catacombs were definitely worth a visit. I enjoyed walking through the long underground tunnels and then I got to the bones. I had read that there were millions of people buried there, but that doesn't mean much until you see them. Piles and piles and piles of bones. I can understand piles of bones, but why did someone stack them so neatly?Wikipedia tells me that Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury arranged the bones.
After leaving the Catacombs, I thought that it would be good to get some fresh air and decided to walk to the river. I went down the Boulevard St-Jacques which actually isn't very exciting although it does have an Australian restaurant.
I walked through a wonderful market at the Place D'Italie, but unfortunately my camera battery is now finished and I've just realised that I've got no way to re-charge it. I'm going to have to think of something for my trip to Wales. I had lunch at Le Comptoir De L'Epicerie Chez Lili et Marcel near the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Then walked along the river to Notre Dame passing the bridge with lots of locks. Then I found Shakespeare and Company and bought a book. Now I'm back having a rest in my hotel.
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(From Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men In A Boat:
"... the cheeses had cost him eight-and-sixpence a pound. He said he dearly loved a bit of cheese, but it was beyond his means; so he determined to get rid of them. He threw them into the canal; but had to fish them out again, as the bargemen complained. They said it made them feel quite faint. And, after that, he took them one dark night and left them in the parish mortuary. But the coroner discovered them, and made a fearful fuss.
He said it was a plot to deprive him of his living by waking up the corpses.
My friend got rid of them, at last, by taking them down to a sea-side town, and burying them on the beach. It gained the place quite a reputation. Visitors said they had never noticed before how strong the air was, and weak-chested and consumptive people used to throng there for years afterwards."
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