The city seaside?

From a tourist perspective - you are lucky enough just to be a resident of inner city Paris.. but now these lucky devils get the beach side too!
August is a holiday month for Paris, and well.. for Europe too I guess. While some are lucky enough to get away to the seaside, others must stay and battle through the tourist occupied scramble. Paris thought, if you can't leave, we'll bring the beach to you. Every July and August they lay out 180 tonnes of sand on the river front starting at Pont Neuf.

This is the over bridge looking down. Close your eyes and you are at the sea.

If we zoom into that picture - we can pin point one guy who is having fun with his spray bottle, cooling him down while he battles 34degrees of burning sun.

If you get a little too toasty and forgot your own squeezy bottle, you can always take a mist shower just a bit down the strip.

Arc de Triomphe

Absolutely stunning sight. Desh and I stood there for a few minutes taking in the scenery.. you know "wow, brilliant.. Uhh.. what shall we do now?.. like, do you want to go over there?"
"Mmmm, you know, I feel like I have seen it really"..
Went like this for a bit when we found our entertainment!
Let me show you a picture first and then I will explain;

Here she is in all her glory. What we are standing in front of - is one of the worlds largest round-a-bout gauntlet runs. Behind us is an underground tunnel that takes you to the other side (do you really think the French would make you run all the way over there amongst traffic - it would be funny I admit).
Interesting point is the tunnel seems to be missed by most people - so they hover on the edge of the curb and see others looking back. Jealousy and desire fills the brain, and they get the urge to be there and just run out. Here comes the funny part. . they start when the road is quiet, but half way in it gets chocka with buses, cars, taxis and motorbikes. It never seems to fail, and it is even funnier when they realise their mistake in the middle and run the 50 metres back.

In the end I had to start telling people about the tunnel, as I couldn't take it anymore. Asians seemed to be the worst culprits - I guess the traffic felt just like home to them.

Below is a 4 step guide of what happens, demonstrated by our game tourist.

AS you can see by step 4 - he hasn't quite made it - but he has become a moving target for 2 buses and 2 cars.

Tour de France

We found this amazing little shop in Montmartre that carries bizarre treasures from the ages. From baby dolls eyes to packaged chocolate from the 1920s! We decided to buy these cute little Tour de France game pieces as a souvenir.

The pieces we chose to adopt.



Pictures of the shop;

Happy Birthday Colleen

Happy Birthday Colleen!
Ladesha made this little note and stuck it onto the Eiffel tower for her mama. Very special note straight from Paree.

The catacombs in Paris

The catacombs in Paris resulted from an overuse of the cemetaries in the city. The cemetaries were so overfilled with decomposition and disease, that neighbouring arrondissements were getting ill from them. So in 1785 it was decided that there would be 3 major cemetaries on the outskirts instead.. and the bodies inside the city would be exhumed and moved to a mass burial chamber.
The bodies were moved at night by horse and cart covered in black draped fabrics - and priests were on board blessing the journey and new burial site.. it took 15 months to deliver to 3 sites. Since the burial, the catacombs became instantly famous.

Just before the revolution, the Comte d'Artois threw wild parties there, and during World War II the French Resistance set up its headquarters there.. Even the Germans occupied one part of them during WWII.

We had been the day before - but the lines were a 2 hour wait.. I talked to some Canadians who said they had been in the area for 3 days and there was always a 2 hour line. We decided the best option was to arrive an hour before opening and get in that way. What a treat - we were 2nd in line which meant no one was in front of us when we entered the tunnels, which spanned 1.7kms 200 metres below the city.. actually quite scary, raising all sorts of claustrophic fears you didn't know you had. Here's a shot of Desh ahead of me.. looking slightly ghostly;

After walking 500metres through these tunnels with low ceilings - you come to the first lookout post - but of course we are even earlier than the employees.

This is where you start reading about all sorts of accidental deaths that happened down here and even massacres - where bodies were just dumped with the other bones.

Next we have our first decorative arrangement - this being a heart shape - some were in pirate skull and crossbones.. very creative.

Excuse the shaky photography - fear mixed with no flash allowed signs.

I couldn't resist patting the odd skull on the head - not sure why - just wanted to touch death.. a bit odd really - Desh tried but couldn't quite get her finger to contact.

This next one I used a couple of thigh bones to keep the camera still as a tripod. Is that wrong? I don't think so when you see the results ;)

This is the common site of the catacombs. Basically a wall made of different bones (thigh I think) and skulls on different layers - kind of like the jam and cream inside a chocolate layered cake.. tasty.


After 45 minutes or so you climb 80 stairs and arrive to a guy checking your bag for stashed finger bones. Seriously, apparently that has been quite the problem over the years.. the odd ( and I do mean 'odd') tourist taking a bone home for the pool room!

So you walk out into a weird street and look back at the building - you have just walked out of a total non-descript box in the middle of nowhere.. Imagine if you walked past not knowing and just watched >> you would see thousands of people exiting - and no one entering ... a bit odd.

Tales from the Crypt

In the late afternoon sun I decided to go visit the famous Cimetière Montmartre.

In the 18th century the Parisian government decided that cemeteries were a health hazard - so the existing ones were exhumed (forming the catacombs which I will explore tomorrow) and new cemeteries on the outer skirts were formed. This is one of them.

Many famous artists were buried here, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't heard of most of them - but you may have - so click here if you're interested.

This really must be a site for the rich - as the crypts were like cute little churches stretching over 16 hectares. I was very drawn to looking through their little windows and seeing what was inside. So these following photos are a collection of the symbolic interiors of crypts.








I'm all by myself and sitting on a tomb when I notice my surroundings. Around me I'm surrounded by squawking black crows circling death.. why the graveyards ?? Why?? Not only were there crows, but wild BLACK cats as well.. my lord.







I'll sign this post off with a couple of photos of the graveyard layout.. What a fantastic place, I could have been filming a Alfred Hitchcock.

The invasion is here - Paris under attack!

Well not really.. but - we have discovered the work of graffiti artist 'Invader' all over the city of Paris. This is where he lives, and started his reign of terror in 1998.. and since then has attacked 39 other countries with tiles and mortar.
So not a graffiti artist in the conventional sense.. invader decorates his graffiti by tiling it onto the wall.. making a mosaic in the shape of classic arcade space invader characters.

Here are some we have found spanning from Montmartre to Saint Germain on our daily city hikes.

Hot Fuzz - police sur les roues