Free Day in Paris

Since this would be our last chance to do things, there was a lot on the to do list for today. First was the Catacombs, tunnels far beneath the city where the old bones of Parisians were moved from the crowded cemeteries and stacked in neat patterns. The line to get in was quite interesting. At first, I thought the somewhat dirty people around the line were just pick pockets or really annoying salesmen, but then it became quite clear that they were actually just very drunk homeless men and the line had winded into a park which they considered their home. Now, this is not uncommon in the US, but when things started getting weird was when their lady friend came over and they ignored the hundred people in sight. Now, this lady was clearly also drunk (it is about 10 am), and her actions suggested that she was a prostitute. So, we are in line, and only a couple of feet away are two drunken men simultaneously grabbing at the woman and her bottle of champagne. The woman would go along with it except about every twenty seconds she would remember that they didn’t have money and she’d push them away. As soon as she would take another gulp of champagne, they were back at it.

By this day in Paris, I had come up with a system of pointing out overly affectionate PDA to other people in our group by just saying “it’s Paris,” and nodding toward the couple making out or on top of each other on a blanket on the ground. I thought about jokingly saying it to the girls next to me, but they seemed pretty disturbed by the whole thing. I realize this would not be something you would normally see in the US, but technically nothing they were doing was illegal since nobody was intending on paying and she was quite willing to let them kiss at her feet and feel her legs as long as they did not bother her champagne. It was not a pretty picture, but it was a true glimpse at life on the streets in Paris and could have been much worse.

Anyway, after a long, uncomfortable wait, we got to see the catacombs and it was worth it. It was a very odd feeling considering it is the grave of thousands of people who have had their skeletons mixed in with each other. It gets less and less creepy with time, though, and it points to how the people who moved them truly believed that once the soul leaves the body that it is nothing more than dust. I would also describe it as humbling, seeing so many bodies, with no distinguishing marks, and the only one in probably a thousand would have a name or a quote and even then it was impossible to know which skull that plaque was meant for. Perhaps that’s why everyone is obsessed with putting so much private information on the internet. They think it will be there far after they are gone. But I really doubt that the historians of the future will focus on what high schoolers were eating on the weekends.

At the exit of the catacombs was actually a very nice neighborhood, probably the cleanest one we saw in Paris. So, we wandered around before we found our way to the metro and to the Eiffel Tower again. We decided to have crepes for lunch, and have a picnic in the lawn in front of the tower. It was very sunny, like the rest of our days in Paris and very relaxing. We just hung out and talked for a couple of hours and I am pretty sure some people took a nap. We had planned on going to the Musee d’Orsay, but unfortunately, we did not make it since it closed fairly early. Others chose go to to Versailles, but hanging out on the lawn of a garden eating a crepe just seemed like more of a cultural experience.

Later, we met with most of the rest of the group at a restaurant to visit more alumni that live in Paris. Unfortunately, unlike in London, I did not really get to talk to any of them or get to know them. We even left early so we could make it on time to a cruise on the Seine. We got there just as it was leaving and were let on at the very last possible moment. It was definitely worth rushing. Paris at night is even prettier than during the day, it is the city of light.