On Wednesday, we made up ground for the slow day on Tuesday. By then, we had mastered the Metro system in Paris so took the trains out to the Montmartre District to see Sacre-Couer (another church) and the bohemians. Once we got off the Metro, it was a relatively short walk through a low-rent bizarre (selling cheap clothing and cloth) to the base of Sacre-Couer. I had forgotten about the long stair climb to the top of the hill on which the church sits overlooking the city. One option to get to the top is through the use of what is called a funicular, which appears to be like a gondola. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) we did not realize this was an option when we started our climb. If we had, I am quite sure that Riley would have weighed the physical cost of climbing all those stairs with the financial cost and ease of the use of the funicular, and I would have been paying more money. Instead, we got some great exercise - but were promptly rewarded with the strong stench of urine when we got to the top. I made a face when I caught my first whiff and a German gentleman next to me said, "Ah, the smell of French perfume..." The thing I found most striking about this church was that although it looks ancient, it was built only 130 years ago by Parisians humiliated by German invaders in 1870. It was built on a foundation of 83 piers because the ground underneath was honeycombed with gypsum mines.
Once inside the church, we were prohibited from taking pictures. In fact, there was priest giving mass while all the tourists were walking around the perimeter of the sanctuary. It was kinda cool to see the familiar ceremony and to hear what we almost instantly recognized as the Lord's Prayer said in French. Oh, and once again, there was no hail or brimstone, so the visit provided further proof that we are good and not evil.
After seeing all there was to see of Sacre-Couer, we walked a short distance down to the artist district in Montmartre for lunch, then headed to the Catacombs. The Catacombs consist of underground tunnels that contain the bones of over 6 million people. In 1785, the government of Paris decided to relieve congestion and improve sanitary conditions by emptying the city's cemetaries and depositing the bones into the miles of underground tunnels that were once associated with limestone quarries. For decades, priests lead processions of black-veiled, bone laden carts into the quarries. The tour included a walk through these winding passages that were created by stacks and stacks of femurs separated only by a row or two of skulls. Some obvious pilfering has occurred over the years as visitors have removed some of the bones despite the warning at the entrance of the catacombs that anyone caught would be immediately arrested.
At the completion of this tour, we headed to the Eiffel Tower at my insistance because there is no way a person can visit Paris without seeing one of its most famous monuments. Unfortunately at the first sight of the line of people trying to get to the elevator, Riley once again made the decision that pictures of it from street level was good enough. I pointed out that the line for the stairs was much shorter, but was given a look like I was completely batty and the subject was dropped. So, we ended up going to a bar instead. Fortunately, it was our friend, Thierry's, bar! After some really good wine and another wonderful dinner at a nearby restaurant, we were faced with the daunting task of packing up our stuff and preparing to leave this beautiful city. Hopefully, we will be able to return again one day!
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