This is Worse Than a Ghost Story.....

Today was simply amazing. I got to experience something that Kathryn and I had read about in books. I literally walked among the dead. Spooky right, well experiencing it first hand was even spookier. I arrived at the Catacombs later than I had hoped but still had plenty of time to make sure I saw everything on my to-do list today. The line was actually not that long and so I added my body to the line of other tourists waiting for a glimpse of the unnamed dead. Fast forward two hours and there I was in line, still waiting. The sun was shining, as evident from my now rudolph red nose, and the two Australian girls behind me couldn't stop talking about getting pie from a pub near by. I was more than ready when it was finally my turn to go inside, only to be meet with a sign reading "This tour can have a profound impact on childen of a young age and those with a nervous disposition" oh no, was my nervous twitch going to show up, maybe this wasnt such a good idea. Knowing Kathryn would kill me if I came home without having seen this, I decended the 130 stairs. What meet me was a completly different world. As a group we made our way along tunnels of old gypsum mines, it was cold, and dark, and very damp.

The tunnels were narrow and even I could touch the top if I stood on my tip toes, and they seemed to go on forever. Eventually I left part of the group behind and the other part seemed to pick up the speed so that I was left by myself, with only the sound of my shoes and the dripping of random water as my company. I wanted my Mom. It was dark, and cold, and I was scared that some skeleton was going to come around that corner up there and get me. I pressed on,hoping that I would eventually catch up to someone else. Then I came around another corner and was meet by a sight that would creep even the bravest of souls out.

Bones, and lots of them. Thousands upon thousands of bones. Some of them stacked in uniform,like in the picture, but others just thrown on top of the piles. I overhead a guide saying that some 6 million bodies where moved from cemetaries around Paris to here, when it got a bit overcrowded. The tunnels snaked on and on, never once leaving the bones behind. I tried hard not to concentrate on the fact that we were deep below the ground and that these in fact had once been real, alive people. It was really creepy. But worth the visit. I kept thinking that if they tried to do something like this nowadays, there would be an outcry, riots, destruction, but back then they really had no other choice. Strange how fast the world changes. After emerging back into the blinding sunlight I ambled my way down Boulvard Raspail, which I think has become my favorite street in Paris. It was quiet and there were lots of small cafe's to rest at. I even walked past a couple of real estate offices with pictures in the windows, I spent a lovley couple of minutes at each picking out which one I wanted to buy. * I have to pause here a moment; as I am writing,this sitting out on my balcony,the apartments around me are light up from inside,a soft glow surrounds me, a couple of boys stuck their heads out of an adjacent window and called out to me :c'est bon? meaning it's good, I replied "Wee c'est bon!! yes it's good! ahhhh Paris!!* I eventually made it to the Army museum and the resting place of Napoleon. It was quiet a sight to see this "little" guy (turns out he wasnt so little, he was an average 5'7) entombed in such a huge fashion.

After leaving the tomb,I went to an exibit on WW1 and WW2. It was interesting to view if from the French's point of veiw and to see what they went through during that hard time. After having lunch at the museum. I caught the Metro up to Champ Elsees. On the train,a man sat down next to me and after noticing my guide book he asked if I was a tourist. We got to talking and he asked ifI loved Paris, and I said that I did, and then I asked him the same question. He told me,that because he was born here and lived here he dosent have the same prespective but he loves it when he hears tourists say that they love his city, since there is so much to love about it. Earlier in the week too, I had asked someone if they ever got tired of looking at the Eiffel Tower everyday. They said that they still look at the tower but they no longer "See" it. I guess when you have to look at something everyday, you lose sight of the beauty and of the "big" picture. Oh and he asked for my number too, I swear I am moving to Paris just because I know I could have a date every other night, I just simply have to look like I have no idea where I am going. I exited the metro station and stood in aww of the Arc De Triumph. It was magnificant, and surrounded on all sides by traffic.

I made the obligitory trek underground (to surpass all that traffic) and up the 290 stairs to the top of the Arc. The whole of Paris laid at my feet. From this high up, you can see for miles, but your still close enough to be able to identify specific landmarks.

She is simply stunning isnt she! After staring at all this beauty for so long I swear itsgoing to be so hard to go back to humdrum NY again (don't worry Jason and Laura it was a round trip ticket that I booked). I exited the Arc and took a stroll down the Champ-Elysees. This is the most famous of all the Avenues in Paris. The shops are high class and expensive. Parisians of old used to walk this street to be seen. They would get all dressed up and bring their fancy car, just so they could walk down the Avenue.





I even found a store some of you might recognize!

After a long and leisurly stroll down this street I entered Place De la Concord. The resting home of the Obelisk.

It has tons of hyrogliphis engraved into it's sides. My guidebook told me that they tell the story of the Obelisks journey from Egypt to it's home here in Paris. This was another thing that Kathryn and I had read about so I was excited to beable to take some pictures so that she could see it too. It was getting late at this point and I was feeling tired, but had one more stop on my to-do list for the day. The Louve Museum. Now, I am not a big Art Fan. I appreciate painting and sculptures but an art museum is not on the top of my must see sights. But I knew I had to go here, if only to see the Mona Lisa. Once I did see her, after getting lost in the maze of rooms that is the Louve, I was dissapointed. The painting itself is not that big, and through the throng of tourists trying to get themselves and her in a picture you can barley see her. Not only that but she is kept behind a 6 inch plate of glass and is roped off, no one is allowed with in 6 feet of the painting. Makes it hard to make out any of the details.

After spending another hour just wandering around the museum, seeing what else there was to see, I was ready to head back to the apartment. I hit up the metro and make my way (quickly) back to my apartment. On the way back into the building, I bumped into the man that had helped me with my door problem on Sunday. He asked if I had, had any other problems and make sure that I understood I was supposed to listen to the door (whatever that means). The Parisian people have all been very nice to me, and I don't see any evidence in the fact that they don't like American's. I find it comforting to walk into my apartment now, pour a glass of wine, open my balcony door and sit and think back over all the wonderful things I did and saw today. Ahhhh.... C'est la vie!!!

*By the way any of you readers who tried to post earlier and were not able to I fixed the problem so comment away!