PARIS – France (Sun 08 Nov)

The forecast for today is cold! 9 degrees high, and 4 degrees low. No rain though. We decided it was a good day for a walk, and a good day to spend undercover, so we headed over to the catacombs, not far from where we are staying. Back in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Paris dealt with its overflowing cemeteries by going underground. They exhumed the bones and stacked them in underground tunnels and quarries. The one known as the ‘catacombs’, was created in 1810, 20 meters below street level. 1.6 kms of corridors, stacked with the bones and skulls of millions of Parisians. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see them. There was a small sign on the door saying, ‘Closed until further notice due to vandalism’. Damn! However we were amused by a sign outside a nearby funeral home saying, ‘Prevoyance Obseques’. Please excuse our ignorance of the French language, but we loosely interpreted this as meaning that they do preplanning for your journey to the afterlife. Now that’s handy. It sounds like quite a trip.

After moving on from here we discovered just how many cemeteries there are in this part of Paris. We also discovered how many ‘names’ are buried in them. We went for a quick walk through the Mont Parnassa Cemetery and passed by the grave of Man Ray, and a Mexican President (it makes you wonder how he came to be buried here).

From here it was to the Pantheon, passing through the Luxemburg Gardens on the way. We can imagine them being a lot prettier in the Spring and Summer, even just a few weeks ago when the Autumn leaves were still on the trees, rather than on the ground. There were still a few hardy souls sitting around on the chairs reading books, but even as hardy as they were, there was a definite layering of cloths required today. There were also quite a number of kids with little yachts on the pond by the fountain. These can be hired out by the hour. I think the guy hiring them is onto a winner here, as there were several boats stuck in the middle that couldn’t be persuaded to return to the side for collection. It seems that you just push them off from the side and hope that eventually they get to the other side for collection, and vice versa.

The Pantheon is an impressive structure with large white pillars to greet you as you enter. Around the inside are mural images of St Genevieve (the patron Saint of Paris, after she delivered Paris from the barbarians led by Attila, through her prayer), and Joan of Arc. Sculptures of great battle scenes including the Revolution support the pillars within the body of this sepulcher. Downstairs, the crypt is like a maze of passages and tombs. In there, are the tombs of Louis Braille, Pierre and Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Jean Moulin, and a long list of revolutionaries.

Upstairs, in the middle of what was once the Church, is a full size working model of Foucault’s Pendulum, demonstrating the rotation of the earth. Swinging its way through time, just like it had back in 1851, when it wowed the scientists of the day. However in our ignorance this did raise a few questions with us that we hope someone will answer. Over a 24 hour period this pendulum rotates (or more accurately the Earth rotates around this pendulum) by something like 272 degrees. Is this affected by how close or distant you are from the poles or equator. If you are closer to the North or South Pole does this rotation stay the same, or perhaps, does the swinging of the pendulum become more elliptical as you get closer to the Equator? Just curious. If only we had more online time, we could Google these things.

In the Church of St Genieve next door lies her stone tomb, encased in gold filigree and glass. Upstairs you can see a group of young men having a practice session on the pipe organ, with the light over their keyboard providing the only light within the dark church. We were waiting for them to break our into some rock solos, or perhaps something from any number of musicals, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. We’re sure they were tempted, and it would have certainly added some life to the building.

We continued our walking (a great pursuit on a cold day like this) into the Latin Quarter, Boulevard Saint Germain. As we walked down the road we passed by a big heavy duty Police truck, complete with bulldozer blade, water cannons on the roof, and mesh covered windows. We have seen a lot of this kind of equipment today, and Police in full riot gear. We have no idea what’s going on, but they certainly seem to be prepared for something. Either that or it is a completely over the top everyday presence.

We discovered a bookshop tonight dedicated to cartoon books. I remember growing up with Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luck, Rintincan, and Ompapa. But this place … well there were hundreds and hundreds of title and series, ranging from kid-worthy, through to the risqué and definitely adult, covering every imaginable genre of story that you can imagine. And every one of them in hardback. This city seems to be obsessed with comics. And just to highlight that, they are in the middle of celebrating 50 years of Asterix, with posters, promotional monuments, and an art gallery dedicated to the wee fellow. There are even books and magazines covering the subject from every angle. Just as well we are backpacking, otherwise I could have spent a fortune in there.

We discovered tonight, as we have previously, that the rude reputation of the Parisians is completely attributable to the Restaurateurs. Running the gauntlet down the street, being continuously accosted by Restaurateurs trying to peddle their wares and get you to step inside. Some become quite rude when you keep walking, others become completely obnoxious. It makes you wonder what their service would be like if you did go inside.