Ep. 3 – Paris, France
Paris, one of the most romantic cities in the world, is also home to one of the least romantic, yet remarkable, landmarks on the planet. Listen in to the third installment of The Friday Take Five to learn more about the Catacombs of Paris and the unique part they play in French history.
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Transcription:
*Intro music*
Hello and welcome to the third episode of The Friday Take Five, a podcast where we take five-ish minutes, I’ve been running a bit long, but five-ish minutes each Friday to step back from the craziness of life and delve into history and adventure. I’m your host, Mark Moran, and with this podcast I’m aiming to scratch an itch for travel bugs and history lovers alike. Every week, we’ll discover a new place with a new story. It’s my hope that you’ll walk away with a renewed appreciation for history and a new travel destination to add to your bucket list. With that, let’s discover.
*Transition music*
The first time I made it to Paris didn’t really count. I was simply popping through town on a connecting flight. The plane landed just as the sun was rising and there was a thick layer of fog preventing me from actually seeing anything. I don’t exactly know why, but I fully expected to be able to see the Eiffel tower, as if we’d be landing the plane in the heart of downtown Paris, but hey, I still made it to Paris and got to come back a month or so later and more fully experience it.
Once I made it back to the city, I found a hole in the wall restaurant serving French tacos, and after a short night at a hostel, got to exploring. A quick pause to plug for French tacos. Those that have been to France and have experienced French tacos, not the BS O’Taco French taco, but true French tacos, will probably agree that they are some of the best guilty pleasure, or non guilty pleasure I don’t judge, foods out there. But anyway, I had my fill, then got back to exploring.
I took in nearly all of the touristy things that could be packed into 3 days; L’Arc De Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, a handful of other museums, Notre Dame, the Palace at Versailles; I’m fairly certain I might’ve gotten the high score on the iPhone step tracker. I had the Paris Pass which let me cut the lines and get access to some of the coolest places, but two places I didn’t get to hit, but places that are still on my bucket list - Sacre Coeur and the French Catacombs.
For those unfamiliar, the Sacre Coeur or Sacred Heart Basilica is a massive church that looms over Paris and provides a fantastic view from above. I also love the peaceful serenity of churches and incredible works of art that are typically found in them, and so I was bummed to miss it, but on my next trip to Paris it is definitely a must.
The catacombs would probably be considered a bit more unique in their draw, in that they’re, well… Full of dead people. Cemeteries give me the creeps, yet, when I think of the catacombs, which is a quarry filled with the neatly organized bones of 6 million dead people from hundreds of years past, I’m simply fascinated. I dunno, maybe it’s just American cemeteries that freak me out.
The catacombs came into existence out of necessity. Interestingly enough, overflowing cemeteries and public health crises in the late 18th century led to a decision to move all of the formerly alive folks to an underground site that was, at the time, outside of the city. City officials had emptied all the cemeteries in the night to avoid upsetting the Church and local Parisians. The bones were dumped at a quarry and laid disorganized for several years until eventually, a man by the name of Louis Etienne Hericart de Thierry led the initiative to organize the bones for the purposes of display. He directed the stacking of skulls and femurs, but also led the effort to take some of the decor from tombs to make the space… Let’s say more inviting???
But what fascinates me so much is the storied past of this incredible site. The catacombs contain the remains of individuals from multiple cemeteries across Paris and the remains go back hundreds and hundreds of years. There are individuals from the Saint Innocents cemetery that had operated for over 600 years before shutting down. There also are the remains from victims of the French Revolution, and some of its majorly important leaders including Maximillien Robspierre and Georges Danton.
This is fairly amusing to me considering that in 2004 a “underground” organization turned part of the catacombs into a fully functioning movie theater and how in 2017 AirBnB paid to be able to turn the catacombs into a “guest experience”, but hey, history is what it is.
So if and when you make it to Paris, get a pastry, see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. They are all absolutely fantastic, but maybe take in the mass cemetery turned AirBnB hot spot as well. I’ll sure be heading over the next time I’m there!
*Transition music*
Hey Friday Fivers, thanks for listening to this week’s installment of The Friday Take Five. If you’re looking to join the community and keep in the loop, don’t forget to turn on notifications on your favorite podcasting platform and remember to follow us on socials @FridayTakeFive. Got feedback or recommendations on places or stories for us to cover? Give us a dm or email at thefridaytakefive@gmail.com. Stay curious, stay adventuring, and have a great weekend!
*Outro music*