On our fourth day in London, we took an early train to
Paris. Although we would only have one
day there, it was definitely a memorable one!
We tried to make sure we had something for everyone in the family on
this trip, and the one thing I insisted on, as an author of ghost stories and a
fan of haunted places, was to visit the Catacombs of Paris. I first learned of these ossuary tunnels when
I did a blog post on graveyards for a Halloween blog hop, and I found the story
of the Catacombs both eerie and fascinating.
Apparently I’m not the only one, as the line to get in was very, very
long. But I had booked a guided tour in
advance, so after lunch we met our guide outside the entrance.
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| One of the incredibly detailed limestone carvings done by Decur from 1777 - 1782 - A Palace in Minorca |
The way down is via a very narrow spiral staircase
that leads 64 feet below the ground. We
were treated to some of the initial history of the network of 187 miles of
tunnels beneath the city: how they were created initially to excavate lime, how
the city was built from what was mined, and how eventually, in the 1700s, Paris
was in danger of sinking into the earth due to the collapsing tunnels. Workers were sent down to reinforce the
mines. During this time, a quarry
inspector named Decur carved this Palace in Minorca from his memory of being
held captive in a fort across from it. He did this (and other carvings) from 1777-1782 and
eventually died down there in a cave-in.
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| "Stop! This is the land of the dead." The sign above the entrance to the ossuary areas in the Catacombs. |
Around this time, Paris was experiencing another
crisis—the overcrowding of cemeteries was endangering public health. Bodies were literally overflowing, disease was
spreading, and there was no room for new burials. Moving the bones became a priority, and there
was plenty of room in the newly repaired tunnels. Over six million bodies were moved, the
product of 1,000 years of burials (often in mass graves) in Paris. This effort took two years.
It’s difficult to describe the sheer volume of bones
down there…it goes on and on and on through the tunnels, and while some walls
are displayed artistically, the bones stretch back from there in deep
piles. Obviously it was impossible to
keep bodies together or add much in the way of identification, but sometimes
headstones were brought down to add to the designs, and there are a few signs
indicating which cemetery the remains are from.
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| A monument added to the design. |
After two hours down there (and one medical emergency involving
a member of our group—especially scary down in the dark, surrounded by bones,
with no emergency exits or even normal staircases…it took medics a long time to
get to us), we climbed another spiral staircase and emerged above ground. Even since, my mind has been spinning with
ideas for a new story! I came up with
the idea for my upcoming release HAUNTED SOULS after a ghost tour in historic
Barnstable Village, so we’ll see if the Catacombs can inspire a new plotline!
A quick snack and then we went in the other direction,
up above the city, the entire 921 feet to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We had a gorgeous day and beautiful
views.
It wasn’t long before we had to make our way back to
the train station and head back to London, but we had more adventures to look
forward to. London Tower is coming up in
the next post, and if you want to see Days 1 and 2 (Soccer and Stonehenge) or
Day 3 (London Eye, London Dungeon, and Churchill War Rooms), I’ve linked those
posts in this paragraph as well (colored titles). Thanks for stopping by, and check out my
books for some spooky ghost stories mixed with steamy romance! HAUNTED SOULS releases June 1, 2016, but it’s
available for Pre-Order on Kindle and Nook, and both SILVER LAKE and GULL HARBOR are currently available in the meantime. And if you want to see some more pictures of the Catacombs, visit my Pinterest board!
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| Obligatory Eiffel Tower selfie with the Seine River below! |
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