Exploring my neighborhood

Yesterday I had the morning off so I went to the Paris Catacombs with my friend. My host mother suggested going, since they're so close to the IES center. I found them on a map, but when we got out of the metro station we couldn't find them! We literally walked in circles around the neighborhood trying to find what is supposedly a famous landmark! Finally a crossing guard pointed us in the right direction.. it had been right in front of us the whole time. So we paid our 3.50 euro and went in.

First you go down a very steep, circular staircase. It went on forever! After a while we started getting dizzy just from walking in a circular motion for so long. But then when you reach the bottom there's a little chamber with plaques and some historical notes. I'm still unsure of the history of the Catacombs.. but what I gathered is that they were excavated and used to store the bones of a bunch of people.. during the 1700s.. I think.. ? Something about the Revolution too, but I didn't understand how that played into it.

Anyways, you continue walking through a very long, stone tunnel. It keeps going for quite a ways. They told us that the underground tunnels follow that same path as the roads above ground. Along the tunnel we saw signs telling us which street was above us. I'm glad I'm not clausterphobic, but I definitely would have started freaking out if I was. The tunnel continued on for a long time, and then we reached another chamber. A sign above it said that we were entering the place of the Dead. I wasn't really prepared for what we saw next..

The actual storage room/tunnel/chamber went on for a long ways, maybe 20 minutes or so. It's basically another tunnel, but completely lined with bones. Completely. The walls are stacked up with femurs and skulls and other remains.. They were placed artfully though. All the bones were the exact same length, and the skulls were lined up to form a kind of border throughout the bones. It was pretty shocking at first to see SO MANY bones! But after a while we just got used to to. I took some pictures, but we weren't allowed to use flash so they didn't turn out very well. You can see the whole album here:

Catacombs

The exit of the Catacombs (yes, it involves walking back UP a steep circular flight of stairs!) let us out a few blocks away from the exit. We were really confused about where we ended up, and spent a while wandering around the neighborhood trying to find our way back to the IES center. But it was a nice way to explore the quarter a bit and see what's close to us. There are a lot of stores and boutiques and restaurants and boulangeries near my school. It's a pretty happening place, and I'm excited to spend more time there!