Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1786, health-conscious Parisians looking to relieve congestion and improve the city's
sanitaryconditionsemptiedthechurchcemeteriesandmovedtheboneshere,toformerlime-
stone quarries. For decades, priests led ceremonial processions of black-veiled, bone-laden
carts into the quarries, where the bones were stacked in piles five feet high and as much as
80 feet deep. Ignore the sign announcing, “Halt, this is the empire of the dead,” and walk
through passageways of skull-studded tibiae, past more cheery signs: “Happy is he who is
forever faced with the hour of his death and prepares himself for the end every day.” You
emerge far from where you entered, with white-limestone-covered toes, telling everyone
you'vebeenundergroundgawkingatbones.NotetowannabeHamlets: Anattendant checks
your bag at the exit for stolen souvenirs.
Cost and Hours:
€8, not covered by Museum Pass, Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon,
ticket booth closes at 16:00; tel. 01 43 22 47 63,
www.catacombes-de-paris.fr
.
Warning:
Lines are long (figure an hour wait) and hard to avoid. Arrive no later than
14:30 or risk not getting in.
Getting There:
1 Place Denfert-Rochereau. Take the Métro to Denfert-Rochereau, then
find the lion in the big traffic circle; if he looked left rather than right, he'd stare right at the
green entrance to the Catacombs.
After Your Visit:
You'll exit at 36 Rue Rémy Dumoncel, far from where you started.
TurnrightoutoftheexitandwalktoAvenueduGénéralLeclerc,whereyou'llbeequidistant
from Métro stops Alésia (walk left) and Mouton Duvernet (walk right).
This famous boulevard is Paris' backbone, with its greatest concentration of traffic. From
theArcdeTriomphedownAvenuedesChamps-Elysées, allofFranceseems toconvergeon
Place de la Concorde, the city's largest square. And though the Champs-Elysées has become
as international as it is Parisian, a walk here is still a must.
Background:
In 1667, Louis XIV opened the first section of the street as a short exten-
sion of the Tuileries Garden. This year is considered the birth of Paris as a grand city. The
Champs-Elysées soon became
the
place to cruise in your carriage. (It still is today; traffic
can be gridlocked even at midnight.) One hundred years later, the café scene arrived. From
the 1920s until the 1960s, this boulevard was pure elegance; Parisians actually dressed up to
come here. It was mainly residences, rich hotels, and cafés. Then, in 1963, the government
pumped up the neighborhood's commercial metabolism by bringing in the RER (commuter
train). Suburbanites had easy access, and
pfft
—there went the neighborhood.
