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Published: November 10th 2008
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Tuesday 26th August (Day 1)
We were up early to get Vaughan sorted, as he had left it until the last possible minute (of course) to sort out a lot of his stuff in anticipation of leaving the UK. Vaughan had expected to fit everything in his pack for some crazy reason, and was suddenly hit with the realisation that he needed to go to the Post Office very urgently. So, items eventually but safely packaged and ready to go, we were organised enough to think about heading to the train station. Vaughan hadn’t left us much time for goodbyes, so it was a bit of a hurried moment when I farewelled Rula (probably a good thing) and jumped in the car with Vaughan, and Mikey, who had kindly offered to give us a lift. Vaughan was stressing that we wouldn’t make it in time, but we did the mad dash and got there with 10 minutes to spare. Goodbye London, goodbye friends, hello Eurostar, hello France! The trip was fast (thanks to some new tracks) and we arrived in Paris in the early afternoon. For those of you who haven’t caught up, we have already visited Paris, as well
as a lot of the main sights - you can see our previous Paris blog
here Well, it all worked out well as it was a hot day, and I had managed to book a hotel less than 5 minutes walk away from the train station - genius! The area wasn’t as tidy as where we stayed last time (last time was the red light district, but it was well monitored) - there were quite a few homeless people around & the shops and homes weren’t so well cared for, but there were still loads of people, restaurants and things to do. We were only staying two nights in Paris so we had to make the most of the afternoon, heading off to Montmartre first. I had been really sick last time we visited Paris, and there were a few things I wanted to catch again, as well as finding a few new places to see. We weren’t staying far away, and even walked through the area we had stayed in last time, to get there. We wandered around the back streets and up to the Sacre Coeur, enjoying the sun and taking things slowly. I enjoyed seeing the
architecture again - the Parisian apartments with their strange-shaped roofs always intrigued me. We kept on wandering and stopped off for a coffee at Le Chat Noir (the Black Cat), a famous Paris cafe. After a quick look at the Moulin Rouge, we headed back to the hotel, stopping off for a kebab (as you do in Paris) and then the supermarket for supplies of cheap French wine, fruit and pastries. Back in our room, we opened the doors to our balcony (Parisian balcony room - score!) and sat outside as the sun set, with a view of the neighbourhood. Nice one Paris! I knew there was a reason we wanted to come back here!
Wednesday 27th August (Day 2)
With limited time in the city, we got up in the morning and headed over to the Catacombs, across town on the Left Bank. Last time we visited Paris we had missed out, so we eagerly arrived in plenty of time, and waited patiently in the line to get our tickets. It was fairly hot (hot enough to need sunscreen), but the temperature was pleasant in the shade, and we knew that the cool air in the
catacombs would be a welcome relief. For anyone who isn’t sure what catacombs are, they are basically tunnels under the ground where old cities used to bury their dead, often because of disease and/or over-crowding. The Paris Catacombs are a virtual rabbit-warren of tunnels, filled with remains that were mostly collected from Les Innocents Cemetery in the 17th Century, after water supplies in the area were repeatedly contaminated. It is not known how many bones or bodies are down there (the main bones you see are femurs and skulls), but my guess would be in the hundreds of thousands.
The catacombs were quite interesting, but it was a bit shattering to see just how many bones there really were, all without a name. In some places the tunnels were low and claustrophobic, but in other places they were much larger - the whole place was quite tidy (concrete floors and ceilings, as well as permanent lighting the whole way), and it didn’t smell, like you might have thought. There were a few small concrete cells where various people had been held underground over the years, and a couple of the cells contained amazing stone carvings in the walls that
the prisoners had made while they waited. The whole place was really well preserved and it was quite amazing. It was interesting to think that while busy, contemporary and metropolitan Paris thundered overhead, the catacombs remained to illustrate an era of Parisian history long forgotten by many.
After leaving the catacombs we had to find out where we were, as the exit is in a different place than the entrance - this made for an interesting adventure around the Left Bank area, on our way (eventually) to the Latin Quarter. It was intensely hot at this point, and even pausing to take photos was spending more time in the sun than we really wanted. We made it to the Latin Quarter, a populated bunch of tiny lanes where there were hundreds of restaurants and bars. We wandered around on the hill, checking out all the bright colours, sights and smells - there were all kinds of tourist stores, ethnic places to eat, ice cream stores, jazz bands, street entertainers, market shops and people, people, everywhere. Each restaurant had a person haggling outside, trying to get everyone’s business, and it was a bit of a mission to walk down the
street. However, there were loads of good deals to be had, with many having a ‘plat du jour’ (plate of the day) which consisted of a cheap (and not always nasty) 3-course meal. It was really interesting just taking it all in, and we quickly decided to return for dinner.
After leaving the Latin Quarter we jumped back on the subway and headed off to Père Lachaise Cemetery, where Jim Morrison is buried. We also went here last time, but it was such a nice day and we didn’t spend much time just wandering around as we were in such a rush to catch the main sights, so this time we really enjoyed just poking around the old graves, walking amongst the huge trees, and just being in Paris in general. We managed to take a lot of things at a much slower pace. As it was so hot, we decided to return to the hotel and just relax, with the big French doors open out on the balcony again - it was so nice! After a couple of hours we decided to venture back to the Latin Quarter for dinner, and had another walk around as it was
getting dark, in time to see all the lights come on and the crowds of people swell as they decide where to eat their evening meal. We chose a cheap place selling French food, and sat next to the front windows, which opened back so that we were essentially right on the street. I could have easily stayed there all night just watching people go by. Eventually though, we thought we should head off, but not before stopping to watch another jazz band in the street on the way. It had been a fairly busy day and we had seen a lot, yet we felt differently about Paris this time because we didn’t feel so rushed. I think it changed our attitude towards the city, even though it was positive right from the beginning. I really hope we get the opportunity to return there one day!
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