Day Twelve| Tuesday 14th August 2018
City: Paris, France
Accommodation: Odeon Hotel
Weather: 28
Photo: Paris from the Eiffel Tower
We had breakfast at the hotel again this morning after enjoying it so much yesterday. We’ve been really happy with this hotel, it’s had some ground floor renovations since my last stay here, and currently parts of the reception area are being painted to finish the renovation.
This morning we had pre booked a walk through the catacombs of Paris, I booked them online back in April after hearing that it was the best way to ensure we got it. The Catacombes are part of the 250km underground network of tunnels under the city, although they don’t take up that much of the distance, and the walk was only about 1km. To be more specific, these sections of the tunnels are built up by human skulls and bones of over 6 million Parisians, put there over two hundred years ago in the late 1770’s. They were put there after Paris got to the point of overflowing cemeteries and mass graves collapsing into the basements of the local residents. Over the course of 15 months, the bones were brought to the tunnels at night and dropped into the tunnels, and later they became the “walls” of the tunnels as they lined the existing walls.
We decided to walk to the catacombs rather than take the metro, and it was a nice morning for it. It took about 30 mins. Upon arrival, we saw only one line, it was massive, and snaked around the entire park area which the entrance to the tunnels is located. We overheard some people saying they’d been there since 8:30 am, just to be the 20th person in line, we arrived just prior to 10am. But then we noticed a second line, a line for pre-purchased tickets, and this line had a little over a dozen people in it. Having pre booked, we were so relived that we had the short line and didn’t have to wait.
Upon entering the tunnels, we went down a spiral staircase, from memory, it was 130 steps. This then lead into a tunnel, and along the way we had an audio guide to listen to at certain points along the route. The tunnel initially starts like any underground tunnel, stone and rock walls, and arched ceilings. Then we entered the catacombs section. it was such an amazing sight, both sides of the tunnels were lined in bones and skulls, stacked up higher than 6ft in some areas. The audio guide was worth listening to when prompted. The tour was self guided, so you could go as slow or fast as you wanted. It took us about 45 mins to complete.
After this, we had planned to catch the metro to the Eiffel Tower, but then decided we’d walk it. It was our final day in Paris, and we had planned only two activities, and wanted to take it easy. Walking is easy, but it was a long walk, a little over an hour to get there.
A lot has changed in Paris since the recent terror attacks in regard to added security, and the most noticeable was at the Eiffel Tower. No longer can you simply walk up to it and purchase your ticket. Even the nearby food market had security at the entrance to bag check. The tower itself is now sealed off from free access, there is a glass and metal wall under construction the entire way around the base, and the entry points are now glass security entrances where bags are checked and you walk through a metal scanner, like at the airport. Once through, you are then able to walk up to the tower, and to the ticketing booths which are located at each foot of the tower. Anthony is not a fan of heights or enclosed spaces, so he asked if I was ok that we only go to the second level, and not the very top, and also take the stairs, not the elevator. I was fine with this, as it was now my third time up the tower, so it was all up to his preference. So for €10 each, we purchased the stairs access ticket to the second floor. After purchasing the ticket, we went through another security checkpoint, then up the stairs. The total time from arriving to getting to the stairs was close to an hour.
Getting to the first level was quite easy, and we stopped at the gift shop, as Anthony was keen to see what they had. We then went up the stairs to the second floor, I was so hot and exhausted once at the top of second level, and my heart rate peaked at 146bpm heading up those stairs, but dropped quickly once at the top. The views from this level are fantastic, you can see all of the city and pin point the places we’ve been to so far and how far we have walked in the past two days. It was near 2pm when we were at the second level, and we hadn’t had lunch yet, so we bought ice cream and ate that while up there. I had the banana fudge and pistachio, and Anthony went double scoop pistachio.
We then made our way back down the stairs to the base, and walked over to the Trocadero across the road for one final photo and hopped on the metro to head out to lunch. When we left the catacombs earlier, Anthony saw a pub called Cafe Oz Denfert, an Australian pub. He was keen to check it out, as he was really wanting something he’d have at home like a chicken parmigiana, so we decided to head there for lunch. The only thing Australian about this place was the name, some flags, some of the decor and about two or three menu items. But, it had Anthony’s Chicken Parmy! We both ordered it, and it was very different to what we’d have at home. Firstly, it does not come with chips, it came with a delicious salad of mixed lettuce, sun dried tomatoes and an olive oil dressing. Then the parmy itself was a chicken breast, with folded ham rolled up in the inside, then coated in a very thin layer of crumbs, and served on a napolitana sauce, and sliced up like a chicken roll. It was really nice, and was served with a basket of sliced baguette. The only thing we were not keen on were the wasps flying around and getting too close for comfort.
Following lunch, we walked the 30 mins back to the hotel and had a nap. It’s been really warm today, and we were both worn out from the walking and the heat. We were not overly hungry at dinner time, so rather than going out, we stayed in and I picked up some chicken, tomato, and basil wraps, and drinks for dinner at a different M&S near the hotel. I hadn’t planned on going there, but ended up finding it next to a market which I wanted to visit, but found to be closed.
We’ve got our bags packed ready for our next destination, Bordeaux. It’ll be a 6am wake up tomorrow, ready to be on the 7:48am train.
tomothy travels 