Advertisement
Published: September 7th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Wow, another exciting day has come to a close. First thing this morning we went to the Catacombs of Paris. We decended down a round of stairs for quite some time and then entered the underground stone-coated tunnels. It was like something out of a movie. We walked for quite some time before encountering the area where they have the walls of bones. When I say walls, I mean 6-foot high, about 9-12 feet deep, and I am not sure of the entire length, but we walked for quite some time. It was quite surreal even though I have seen many pictures before. We spent awhile down there travelling the path that is set for you (thank goodness the blocked off all of the forks in the tunnels with iron gates to keep you moving on the desired track). Each section of bones was labeled with a sign indicating what cemetary they were removed from. This would not be for the faint of heart or anyone out of shape (a handful of older persons had to stop in the middle of the stair well that returns us to the surface in order to rest), but was well worth the venture and
8 euros.
Then on to the Salvadore Dali museum. This museum is not all that extensive and does not have the classical paintings you think of when it comes to Dali, but is still fun (plus there are plenty of 10% coupons floating around...check with your hotel). Short and sweet, we then walked to nearby Basilique De Sacre Couere. Beautiful church with utterly amazing views of Paris. Lots of people, mostly tourists, so eating and shopping are easy for those not fluent in French.
We knew we would be calling it an early night, so only one last stop remains, La Cave de Bulles. This is a beer specialty shop that I read about on beeradvocate.com. I heard the owner, Simon, was a great guy so we headed on over. Simon is by far the nicest person ever and extraordinarily helpful. He was excited to talk beer with me and we chatted for half an hour. He then helped me select an assortment of French craft/microbrews to take back with me, as well as a couple to drink tonight. He was even so kind as to bubble wrap them for me. He was awesome. He also likes to
trade beers, so next time I'm here I will load up with USA beers for him.
Back to the hotel and what do we run into? I giant protest/demonstration with thousands of people filling the boulevard right in front of our hotel. So we had to charge through it to get across...but did so easily. There didn't appear to be any violence of any kind, so it wasn't scary or anything. Actuallly there was a cafe with a keg selling beers to the protestors....and yes I joined them for a moment and had a pint. Then back into my room for the night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 57; dbt: 0.0711s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Duane
non-member comment
Looks like that waterballoon on the side of your head is just about ready to burst. Hehe.