Paris

Waiting at the airport I was wearing jeans because Paris weather was supposed to be kind of chilly. Well my knees were kind of itchy, I had some mosquito bites so I didn't really think anything of it. When we were waiting for the plane I realized I was really itchy. I went to the bathroom and I had a rash all over my lower body and lower back! Luckily we had Benadryl so I took three of those and hoped for the best.

So we stayed about an hour outside of Paris in a small town of about 1,000 called Saint Sulpice. The bed and breakfast was wonderful. The couple that owns it has a 1 1/2 year old (which is the reason they opened the B&B up two years ago)! They both get to stay home with their son and he already knows french and German! The B&B was an old farmhouse that they converted into rooms! We got the loft!

Our lovely room, with real towels, our own shower, and Q-tips!!

Downstairs for breakfast, the stairs lead to our loft.

I met two Kevins there!

When we first got into Paris we walked over to the Montmarte Cathedral that is on top of a hill overlooking all of Paris. We walked along a little more and then headed over to the Catacombs Museum.

Walking around Paris

View from Montmarte.

Catacombs:

Paris in the late 1700's was a huge metropolitan city. They quarried under the city for materials to build up on the surface. This was done almost gluttonously and the buildings above actually started to fall and collapse into the weakened earth and quarries below. Around this same time they were running out of space to bury their dead. Families would pay the priests to bury their dead and the priests, not wanting to turn down money, would just stack the bodies in 'houses for the dead.' Or they would build up 10-15 ft walls around cemeteries so they could then bury one on top of the other. Now this was becoming a real problem because as more and more bodies were buried the walls of some cemeteries started to actually burst and spew decomposing bodies into the street. People living near this would then begin to die from disease. Now, in almost every society disturbing the dead is a huge taboo. But, when the choice is between the dead or the living...the living usually takes the cake. The decision was made to transport all the bones into the extensive quarries under Paris. They were consecrated and the long process of transporting the bones was done at night while priests sang the funeral hymns. It was very cold and eerie. When we first walked down the 180 odd steps the only thing you could hear was the crunch of gravel under our feet and the echo of voices further along. Deeper into the catacombs there were large puddles and the roof would drip on you as you walk past hundreds of skulls stacked neatly into a heart or cross.

Some parts were marked with a sign indicating which cemetery the bones came from. The gap is a ventilation system for the catacombs.

Bike tour:

We once again went on the Fat Tire Bike Tour. We chose to do this and get some background history and save the Louvre for whenever/if-ever we return. This was good seeing as how we only had 12 hours in the city and there are 8 miles of gallery. There are so many pieces of art that if you spent just one minute looking at each piece 24 hours a day it would take you 9 months to see all of it!

Napoleon's Tomb

That roof is covered in 18k gold. It is also where Napoleon is entombed. He was buried in 6 caskets (one within the other like the Russian dolls) the largest one almost the size of a bus. His casket is on display a floor under where you can see it from. That way even in death you bow to him. Now he was not originally buried here. He died on an island in the middle of the Atlantic where he was exiled. This was his second time being exiled. The first he was given 1000 men to go with him and after hearing what was happening in France he and his men easily escaped and began to march up to take over. Twice France sent out an army to defeat this uprising. Twice Napoleon gave an impassioned speech and twice was able to convince the troops to march with him and join his cause. When he got there it was a bloodless coup. He was able to just say I'm in charge now...and he was. This lasted 100 days. That is how long it took for him to get himself exiled a second time. That time they made sure he wasn't escaping. It was here that he wrote his memoirs and his detailed funeral plans. He died on that island.

This is the military school that Napoleon went to. He finished the 2 year program in 1 so that his brother could use the remainder of his scholarship! The lawn in front of this is where he used to practice drills with his classmates.

We ran into 'Miss Jay' in Jardin des Tuileries park! He was very nice and made us show him the picture to make sure he 'looked cute'!! This park is where Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

The Eiffel tower was built for the 1889 world fair. It was initially on loan for 20 years at the end of which they were going to tear it down. However Mr. Eiffel would not allow that and the way he convinced France was by going to the military and telling them that if they ran a radio antenna up it, they would have the worlds tallest radio tower. It was the worlds tallest building up until 1930 when the Chrysler building in New York.

A crepe in the park and us on our sweet rides!

That spyre thing with the gold top is actually the oldest monument in Europe...it is egyptian and Napolian helped himself to it. Every year France recieves an offiical reaquest for its return.

We only stayed in paris for one day because when my sister and I went 4 years ago we did not have great experiances. This was a trial run to see if we might want to come again. We liked it. Hopefully we will go again and do the Lourve and some of the other main sights.