Life Through My Eyes: 8th Day Of Our Vacation In Paris, France

Today was an exciting day. We had heard about the Catacombs in Paris and had seen them on travel shows on TV. Today we actually went to the Catacombs. We also went to the Conciergerie, which is next to Saint Chapelle church. Then it was off to see the Pompidou Centre. Then we went to the Le Marais area and the Place des Vosges. A long but exciting day.

The following information about the Catacombs was obtained from an article written by:

By Natasha Geiling

SMITHSONIAN.COM

MARCH 28, 2014

As Paris grew into its a role as a major European hub, it eventually ran into a major problem: by the 17th century, enough people had lived and died in Paris that its cemeteries were overflowing, overstuffed with graves to the point when corpses, at times became uncovered. And so the solution arose to place them in the centuries-old tunnels that had existed beneath the streets of Paris since the 13th century, remnants of a time when limestone quarries were mined to build Paris into a thriving city. By the time these burials ended, 6 million Parisians' bones came to their final resting place in the city's catacombs.

The public is only allowed to go so far in the caves and tunnels that run under Paris. It is said that there are approximately 200 miles of these tunnels. What you are about to see might be unsettling or disturbing to some. What you are about to see is just a small portion of the bones and skulls of the approximately 6 million bodies that were placed in the catacombs. Cross this line at your own peril.

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Here is a marker for point zero in Paris. It is said that all locations and distances are measured from this marker. This marker is located just in front of Notre Dame. The legend has it that if you place coins on this marker, you will have good luck or something like that. Unfortunately it is all a scam. Some of the hustlers and scam artists in Paris decided to put some change on this marker and sit back and watch tourist put their change on the marker. At some point in time the thieves decide that there is enough change on the marker and they stop by and gather it up except for a little that they leave behind as "bait" for the next round of victims.

Veronica is now heading down numerous steps in order to reach the catacombs which are beneath Paris...such a brave soul. She has no idea what lurks in the darkness of the abyss....

I found the lighting in these tunnels that seem to never end really cool so I decided to see what I could do with them using my editing software

My God woman...you look like you have just seen a ghost

Now that you have made it back from the dark side its time to visit The area around the Pompidou Centre.

There was this really cool body of water near the Pompidou Centre that had all kinds of whimsical moving water statues and metal works of art

They was even some wall art in the area...a rather large piece

After spending some time in the area, we headed to the Conciergerie
The Conciergerie is a former prison in Paris. It sits on the West side of the Ils de la Cite, Island Of The City. It was part of the former first Royal Palace in Paris and is also known as The Palais de la Cite, which consisted of the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice and the Saint- Chapelle. Hundreds of prisoners during the French Revolution were taken from the Conciergerie to numerous locations in Paris to be executed on the guillotine. And here you thought that you had totally made it back from the dark side. The Conciergerie is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and now houses various Exhibitions

After visiting the Conciergerie, we went to the Place des Vosges. The Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris and is one of the finest in the city. It is in the Marais section of Paris