Paris
We started the day bright and early, despite our exhaustion from our non-stop schedule finally setting in. After popping into our boulangerie for breakfast (flute au chocolat and croissant) we walked to the Père-Lachaise cemetery. There we saw the graves of Molière, Edith Piaf, Chopin, and Jim Morrison.
Our next stop was the Sainte Chapelle. This site was literally breath-taking. I gasped when I stepped inside the chapel, it was stunning. The ceilings were high, painted in bright gold, red, and blue. Stained glass depicting scenes from the Bible stretched the entire length of the room. There was a golden alter at the front of the room. I could imagine kings going to worship there. The amount of work that must have gone into such an extraordinary building is unbelievable.
After Sainte Chapelle we made our way towards the Panthéon, which houses the tombs of important literary and political figures in France. We stopped for lunch at a Crêperie, getting in and out for our fastest meal here so far. The outside of the Panthéon is stunning, but the interior was awe-inspiring. There were high ceilings, intricate monuments, and beautiful works of art. We followed the steps into the crypt and saw the tombs of figures like Voltaire, Louis Braille, and Aimé Césaire.
We trekked across town to Les Invalides. A military hospital, now museum, commissioned by Louis XIV that is also home to Napoleon’s tomb. There we visited exhibits on the American Revolution, the Franco-Prussian war, Napoleon’s campaigns, old battle equipment, and more. I was moderately creeped out when we happened upon Napoleon’s horse among the artifacts. Apparently, the horse had been with the emperor throughout several battles and when he died he was stuffed and preserved. After our time in the museum we followed the path to visit Napoleon’s tomb. It was once again stunning. The weather was much more cool on this day than that of my original visit because it had rained the night before. The air in the tomb was positively chilling.
Our final destination was the Paris catacombs. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect during the experience. We waited about 45 minutes in line, making it in just before closing. We marched silently in a line, deeper and deeper under the city. Finally, we arrived in a chamber with a low-hanging ceiling. There were large signs that explained the overcrowding of Paris cemeteries and the expansion of the city. It was interesting to learn that research was being done on the bones each time sections needed restoration. Researchers had apparently found that there was a relatively low incidence of disease among those they had already studied. We walked past and were greeted by French signs about death. It was definitely eerie. I was amazed by the number of bones. Over 2 million people were entombed here. Some bones made designs like alters, crosses, or hearts. Some skulls had evidence of bullet holes or were cracked after their move. It was frightening at times to shine a light and see pines of bone stretching out indefinitely into the distance behind locked gates. Because of our time in cemeteries, tombs, and the catacombs we nick-named this day in Paris the “day of death.”
Mary-Est-En-France 