Paris Days 3 and 4

On Tuesday we queued up for several hours in the sun for a half hour walk underground. It wasn’t so bad though – we met some nice Australians in the line and chatted for ages. When we finally got in, it was worth the wait. The route underground in question was the catacombs, a fascinating but very eerie display of human bones and skulls. They were put there in this manner during a time of disease and unsanitary conditions when they were removed from the cemetery. In later years Kings used to hold wild parties down there in this bizarre, macarbre and rather grotesque setting. The inscription above the door reads ‘Stop! You are entering the empire of death!’


We had a late picnic lunch and then joined our Topdeck group for our first tour – ‘The Tapas Trail’. We all went into the Latin Quarter and David and I found a nice placeto have some wine. I had real French onion soup which was nothing like I expected but really tasty. The onion was very chunky, the broth was more tart than salty, and the top had a crust of soggy bread and cheese. David had mussels in white wine again which were wonderful, and we shared some beef bourginon. Afterwards we had an amazing City Lights tour with the tour bus. We got to see sights we had not had time for such as the Grande Palais, the Champs Elysees, the obelisk and many statues. We also stopped off for the best view of the Eiffel tower by night, across the river.


On Wednesday we went to the Louvre. If you intend to go, make sure you do not enter via the main entrance under the glass pyramid, as you will queue for hours. Instead go in via either one of the wings near the arch, or through the ‘Carosel’ – a complex underneath with shops, a cloak room and some restaurants. We went through the Carosel and it saved us a good hour or two. The Louvre was amazing – it took us about 5 hours to get through it all. I was particularly taken with the antiquities, especially Assyrian and Egyptian. David was most fond of French paintings, especially from the Renaissance.


After the Louvre we walked to Pont D’Alma and went on a river cruise with the oldest river boat company in Paris, Bateaux Mouches. It was beautiful and romantic, not to mention a nice opportunity to rest our weary feet!


Afterwards we met our tour group again for a massive picnic in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. We had not intended to go up because of the huge queues and extra cost, but standing so close to it we decided to just do it. The queue wasn’t actually too bad and the price was not outrageous. As we went up the tower the sun was going down and we got to see the city light up. It was absolutely amazing.