A bit of freshness in the catacombs of Paris

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With the hot weather we have in France, I am not surprised that people are looking for a bit of freshness. The underground old quarries still present under several neigborhoods of Paris may seem to be a good idea to find some freshness, provided that you stay near the entrance. Yesterday, the dogs of the firemen of Paris finally found two 16 and 17 years old teens who were lost since three days in the catacombs. It is a nice place for bones and skulls, but it is less comfortable for living creatures. There are two ways to visit the catacombs. There is an official entrance near the Denfert-Rochereau square, the one with a reduced statue by Bartholdi of his Lion of Belfort. This guy, Bartholdi, had a kind of genius for marketing his sculptures. There are 2 small bronze of his statue of Liberty, one in Paris and the other in Poitiers, Liberty Square (yup, the name of this square is not very original). To be reduced the Lion of Denfert-Rochereau is still a big lion : 7mx4m. Back to the topic. People have to pay an entrance ticket, but the place is clean, well-lit, and the entrance ticket can be also used like an exit-ticket for the same price, which is an advantage. Then there are several hidden accesses to the parts of the catacombs not opened to the public. The access is forbidden, but visiting the «underground» part of the catacombs is a fashion since a few decades. There is no entrance ticket, although a more expensive ticket is possible, as there is also a specific police in the catacombs. Working in wet galleries full of skulls to give a ticket to the visitor who should not be there is probably not a promotion for a policeman, and if the ticket is a small one, the policemen are not that nice for what I heard. I never had the opportunity to visit the «unofficial» part of the catacombs, but I would be tempted. The quarries are full of paintings, tags, and there are interesting buildings, like an old German bunker, or an underground lake, the «swimming pool». I also heard of parties in the catacombs, it is a place where a drum player can play all the night without disturbing his neighbors. People going in the catacombs are usually knowing where they are going, and it is very rare when they do not find the way back, but a large underground quarry is a dangerous maze : I read a few years ago about a man who was found only after 8 days. He had eaten rotten wood and drank muddy water to survive, but had not managed to find an exit in the dark... In old times, mothers were reading to their children the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, and any toddler knew the story of Hop-o’-My-Thumb, a fearsome one : parents could not support anymore their 7 children and had decided to abandon them in a forest. But the youngest child, Hop-o’-My-Thumb, had heard them, he picked small white pebbles in a river that he used to mark his trail in the forest, and he brought back his brothers to home ! Where were your pebbles, guys ? Marker pens and colored pencils work also well when it comes to find the way back in an underground quarry. It is another proof that having some literary foundations can save your life. Photo : Top, a room of the «official» part, picture by Tim Albany. Bottom, another room, in the «unofficial» part of the catacombs, by Cataphile.