Since June 21 is France's annual national Fête de la Musique, I figure Paris would be the happening place to be. I book a cheap hotel close to the Marais district, a very hip, gay, fashion, SoHo-like district. This will give us a really different taste of Paris, compared to our previous visit, where we stayed in Chateau Rouge.
Our hotel, the Hotel Voltaire, is very close to a big metro hub in Place Voltaire, and very conveniently located right in between the two different train stations Betty and I are arriving at (me, Gare de Lyon; her, Gare du Nord). I had walked past Place Voltaire many times during my last stay in Paris, so I had photos to send Betty to show her what the square looks like and where we would meet.
We arrange to meet my friend and her family for an afternoon tour of the catacombes, and with that, our day's itinerary is set. After the 2.5km walk to the train in Chamelet, and another 2.5km from the train in Paris to the hotel, we will likely walk another 10-15km today in Paris, between the catacombes this afternoon and the Fête de la Musique tonight (hence this blog's title: Playing the Bones).
With those plans in place, Colin and I walk the 2.5 km to Chamelet's train station along our usual route. By then, I need to use the washroom, and fortunately, the one thing the Chamelet train station has, is washrooms. What it doesn't have, is soap or toilet paper. While someone had kindly made a pile of clean leaves beside the sink, I opt for Purell and Kleenex (never leave home without it!!) Colin and I take the train together to Lyon, then part ways, as Colin heads to a conference in Toulouse, and I head to Paris.
Arriving at Paris Gare de Lyon, I see the Fête de la Musique starting to swing into action, with singers and musicians drawing crowds on the station platform.
Due to our timeline in meeting my friends for the catacombes, I decide to walk the approximately 2.5km from the train station directly up to Place Voltaire via Rue de Lyon and the Boulevard de Beaumarchais (which becomes Boulevard du Temple at the yellow 20-sided Cirque d'Hiver). I figure it will be slightly faster than walking up the lovely Boulevard Richard Lenoir. However, there are so many stop lights, I don't think it is actually any faster. It is certainly less pleasant, overall.
As I walk, I enjoy watching street performers set up their instruments on the sidewalks, and notice food carts also being put into place. I look forward to the evening's festivities. However, when I arrive at Place Voltaire, I'm in for a shock: the normally breezy square is a pulsating mass of bodies. Beer carts are doing brisk business, and a giant stage is emitting a nearly deafening blast of hip hop music, accompanied by giant TV screens and strobe lights (hover over the artists and click on "écouter" to listen to a sample).
I am sure Betty has made it the 1.5 km down Boulevard Magenta from Gare du Nord to the square, but finding her in the throng seems nearly impossible. I go to our prearranged meeting place, but can't spot her. I try texting and phoning, but it doesn't seem to be going through. Finally, she approaches me and, a half hour later than we expected, we weave our way through the packed square to our hotel to check in.
The clerk at the hotel spends 20 minutes searching for our reservation. He looks through every single piece of paper on his desk, while a lineup of guests forms behind us. Finally, he says, "Just go upstairs to the rooms, and I'll find the reservation later."
We squeeze into the tiny 2-foot by 3-foot elevator, which Betty finds hilarious, and unload our bags into rooms not much bigger than the elevator (which Betty finds less hilarious). By now we are significantly late. There is no way we can make it for 5pm if we walk the 5km to the catacombes as we had planned... at this point, we can't even make it for 5pm if we take the metro! The metro is our only choice, so we walk 1.2km to Strasbourg St-Denis, hop on the #4 line, and arrive at the Denfert-Rocherau station next to the catacombes by 5:30pm.
My friend had arrived early (making us feel doubly late!) and so has already been in line for an hour. Even after an hour's wait, the lineup is still long, and the large stage being set up next to the catacombes does a very annoying and deafeningly loud sound check for the next hour while we wait in the queue. The sound engineer can't seem to equalize the various drums, so we have to listen to the drummer hit each drum by itself over and over and over.
My friend had arrived early (making us feel doubly late!) and so has already been in line for an hour. Even after an hour's wait, the lineup is still long, and the large stage being set up next to the catacombes does a very annoying and deafeningly loud sound check for the next hour while we wait in the queue. The sound engineer can't seem to equalize the various drums, so we have to listen to the drummer hit each drum by itself over and over and over.
Finally we get inside the catacombes, and wind our way through a labyrinth of dimly lit underground passageways. Progressing downward from street level, the rock dates farther and farther back in time, until it reaches 40-48 million years old (Lutetian Period) at the location of the Quarryman's Footbath. In this time period, the Alps did not exist, and area was covered in tropical sea. Remnants of ancient marine life has only recently been discovered in the catacombes, including a giant 2-foot sea snail.
The 2km of tunnels that comprise the "visitor's walking circuit" exist due to 15 centuries of mining for limestone to build buildings, like Notre Dame. A set of tunnel collapses in the 18th century caused an inquiry and a works project to reinforce some tunnels, and fill in others. The initials and dates carved into the tunnel walls indicate when each tunnel was reinforced, and by whom. Other signs carved into the walls indicate which areas were filled in, for example, various aqueducts. You can see how the pillars in the following photo indicate their date based on their style, with the polished pillars being the originals, and the piled stone pillars being later reinforcements.
The tunnels descend gradually, with poor visibility and treacherous footing in places. The flooring is uneven, in some places covered in loose stone, in other places, slick with water dripping from the ceiling. My shoes quickly gain a limestone colored coating, which is unnerving... considering the "other" contents of the catacombes.
At the lower levels, about 20m underground, are the remains of approximately 6 million Parisiens, many of whom were moved into the abandoned quarries in 1785, when the main cemetery, La Cimetière des Saints Innocents, got so over-crowded it posed a health risk. Other cemeteries followed suit until 1860, when new cemeteries were built outside the city limits. The first sets of bones were simply deposited in a hap-hazard manner; however, in 1810 the Inspector General of Quarries, Héricart de Thury, decided that the bones should be arranged in a respectful and proper manner. I mention his name specifically, because the care and attention placed on the arrangement of the bones was the detail that really struck me the most while I was walking in the catacombes.
At the end of the catacombes, a narrow winding staircase takes us 83 steps up to street level.
We exit to the street almost a kilometer from where we entered, facing the Comptoir des Catacombes souvenir shop. We start to walk along Avenue General Leclerc back to the catacombes entrance, near the Denfert-Rochereau Metro station, and enjoy a particular set of street musicians playing outside a brasserie. Betty wants to stop there to rest and eat, but my friend needs to get back home, so we say our goodbyes and Betty and I grab supper together and enjoy the music.
The 2km of tunnels that comprise the "visitor's walking circuit" exist due to 15 centuries of mining for limestone to build buildings, like Notre Dame. A set of tunnel collapses in the 18th century caused an inquiry and a works project to reinforce some tunnels, and fill in others. The initials and dates carved into the tunnel walls indicate when each tunnel was reinforced, and by whom. Other signs carved into the walls indicate which areas were filled in, for example, various aqueducts. You can see how the pillars in the following photo indicate their date based on their style, with the polished pillars being the originals, and the piled stone pillars being later reinforcements.
The tunnels descend gradually, with poor visibility and treacherous footing in places. The flooring is uneven, in some places covered in loose stone, in other places, slick with water dripping from the ceiling. My shoes quickly gain a limestone colored coating, which is unnerving... considering the "other" contents of the catacombes.
At the lower levels, about 20m underground, are the remains of approximately 6 million Parisiens, many of whom were moved into the abandoned quarries in 1785, when the main cemetery, La Cimetière des Saints Innocents, got so over-crowded it posed a health risk. Other cemeteries followed suit until 1860, when new cemeteries were built outside the city limits. The first sets of bones were simply deposited in a hap-hazard manner; however, in 1810 the Inspector General of Quarries, Héricart de Thury, decided that the bones should be arranged in a respectful and proper manner. I mention his name specifically, because the care and attention placed on the arrangement of the bones was the detail that really struck me the most while I was walking in the catacombes.
We exit to the street almost a kilometer from where we entered, facing the Comptoir des Catacombes souvenir shop. We start to walk along Avenue General Leclerc back to the catacombes entrance, near the Denfert-Rochereau Metro station, and enjoy a particular set of street musicians playing outside a brasserie. Betty wants to stop there to rest and eat, but my friend needs to get back home, so we say our goodbyes and Betty and I grab supper together and enjoy the music.
After supper, we walk the 5km? back to our hotel, enjoying the wide variety of musicians in each district. Near the entrance of the catacombes, the stage is in full swing with Isaac Delusion, resembling the scene in Place Voltaire. Uniformed police are omnipresent here, including standing in the shrubbery!
We decide to walk through the Latin Quarter along Boulevard Saint-Michel, past the Luxembourg gardens and its beautiful bronze fountain called "Les Quatres Parties du Monde," which is a homage to Marco Polo and Robert Cavelier de la Salle. Naturally, because of this, the live music by the park resembled 1990s grunge. Because France.
Passing by the Place du Pantheon, we hear some kind of breezy folk-rock, similar in style to Edie Brickell. The music draws us off Boulevard Saint-Michel and down Rue Soufflot towards the Pantheon, where we pass a band playing in the bed of a truck, and can hear "Hava Nagila" in the distance. We follow it past the University of Paris Faculty of Law and its dozens of students sprawled on the adjacent square, all the way to Eglise Saint-Etienne, where the Jewish congregation is dancing and inviting the growing group of observers to come in and tour the church. A song finishes as we approach, and the MC calls over the loudspeakers, to raucous laughter from the crowd: "No, no, dancers, you don't have to stop or be afraid--those people arriving are just Christians! Let's do one more dance!" It is a gorgeous temple, and many visitors are taking the MC up on his offer. However, during the pause, we hear another band around the corner, and we are off down Rue de la Montagne Saint Genviève.
We meander around, following the music, until we end up on Rue Saint Severin, where we get really turned around in the crowds. Despite being only a block from the Seine river, we can't seem to find it.
Finally, we get onto Ile de la Cité, which is surprisingly quiet. We plot a new route through the Marais to our hotel, up Rue du Temple. It takes us past the Hotel de Ville, which is gorgeously lit up, but also surprisingly quiet, despite many people milling around.
We are a little disappointed that the streets in the Marais are all much quieter than in the Latin District, until... we end up in a two-block long dance party! I'm super excited to participate, as it reminds me of the Davie Street Block Party in Vancouver (sorry that's an old clip--I wanted to show something very similar in feel to the Marais street party).
We figure that we can walk through the crowds and enjoy the celebration. We don't realize how "up close and personal" we have to get until it is too late to backtrack. There is no "walking" through this crowd: we are pressed on on all sides by sweaty happy dancers. The music is catchy and the crowds are cheerful, so I decide the best course of action is to simply dance our way through the crowd. We work our way through the two blocks in a gentle undulating motion. It's the most fun I've had in Paris. :D I soon find myself face to face with a laughing drag queen, and squeezed between two muscular men who are both looking up above my head. With no ability to turn around and look up, I just smile back and keep going. It isn't until we get to the other side of the throng that I have the space to turn around and look up: a half dozen very fit go-go boys are shaking their goods in the windows above the crowds. No wonder everyone is so happy!! ;)
Approaching Place de la République, my ego gets a boost as I get cruised by a couple of young women sitting at a sidewalk café. Still got it! ;) Even at midnight, Place de la République is still going strong. I suspect they will continue on for a few more hours at least. There are police with riot gear on the fringes of the square, but I don't see anything that should cause them to use it. Back at the hotel, I can still hear the music from my room, two blocks away from the square. Rather than fight it, I open the window and lean out to watch the festivities for a while. It's been a very exciting evening. Finally, around 3am, things start to quieten down, and I drift off to sleep.
Finally, we get onto Ile de la Cité, which is surprisingly quiet. We plot a new route through the Marais to our hotel, up Rue du Temple. It takes us past the Hotel de Ville, which is gorgeously lit up, but also surprisingly quiet, despite many people milling around.
We are a little disappointed that the streets in the Marais are all much quieter than in the Latin District, until... we end up in a two-block long dance party! I'm super excited to participate, as it reminds me of the Davie Street Block Party in Vancouver (sorry that's an old clip--I wanted to show something very similar in feel to the Marais street party).
We figure that we can walk through the crowds and enjoy the celebration. We don't realize how "up close and personal" we have to get until it is too late to backtrack. There is no "walking" through this crowd: we are pressed on on all sides by sweaty happy dancers. The music is catchy and the crowds are cheerful, so I decide the best course of action is to simply dance our way through the crowd. We work our way through the two blocks in a gentle undulating motion. It's the most fun I've had in Paris. :D I soon find myself face to face with a laughing drag queen, and squeezed between two muscular men who are both looking up above my head. With no ability to turn around and look up, I just smile back and keep going. It isn't until we get to the other side of the throng that I have the space to turn around and look up: a half dozen very fit go-go boys are shaking their goods in the windows above the crowds. No wonder everyone is so happy!! ;)
Approaching Place de la République, my ego gets a boost as I get cruised by a couple of young women sitting at a sidewalk café. Still got it! ;) Even at midnight, Place de la République is still going strong. I suspect they will continue on for a few more hours at least. There are police with riot gear on the fringes of the square, but I don't see anything that should cause them to use it. Back at the hotel, I can still hear the music from my room, two blocks away from the square. Rather than fight it, I open the window and lean out to watch the festivities for a while. It's been a very exciting evening. Finally, around 3am, things start to quieten down, and I drift off to sleep.
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