Welcome back to the next installment of our Europe trip posts! Today we had a LONG but INCREDIBLE day in Paris – read on for all the details and photos!
Day 3 – April 22, 2023
Good morning from Paris! Here’s the vlog from today:
What I wore this day: Uniqlo fuzzy jacket / Columbia rain jacket / Klassy Network bodysuit / Target jeans / Mad Love sneakers / PacSafe anti-theft bag
We had QUITE the day ahead of us this beautiful Saturday, including something that I’ve anticipated since I was about 9 years old…today we’re going to the Catacombs!!!!!!!!
It’s no secret that I love creepy things. On previous vacations I’ve visited the Museum of Death in LA, an old tuberculosis hospital in Costa Rica, cemeteries all over the place… it’s a documented fact. Something that’s been on my list for AGES AND AGES has been to visit the Catacombs of Paris. We didn’t have time to do it on our first trip, but this time we were all in. Luckily for me, everyone in our group (except Chris lol) also listed the Catacombs as one of their top priorities for the trip, so it was quickly catapulted to the top of our list.
Well…we wasted no time on this trip! This was literally the first thing we did on our first full day of the trip.
If you’re planning a trip to Paris, it’s absolutely VITAL that you get tickets to this ahead of time. Previously they allowed you to reserve tickets a month out, but right before our trip they changed it to just 4 days out, so catch me laying awake at 1 am Seattle time to get these the Tuesday before our trip 🤪 We got the first available time slot and were ready to rope drop the Catacombs!
This was literally a lifelong dream coming true. I’d wanted to go here for AGES and I cannot overstate how excited I was to see this in real life.
We got through security, picked up our audio guides and away we went!
After a brief overview as we walked in, it was down 131 steps to the main attraction.
Every photo of me is straight up CHEESING. I was so excited.
Chris had concerns about it being not tall-person-friendly, and I can confirm that was the case at times:
But thankfully the whole visit wasn’t like that. The main tunnel was shorter, but they had little sections cleared out you could step into to stand straight. It really was better than I expected.
The audio guide was great and super interesting, we learned a lot! Also one of the best parts of getting there early was there was NO ONE in front of us! The Catacombs only allow a certain amount of people in at a time for safety reasons, so we knew it wasn’t going to be super crowded, but it was an extra treat to be down there basically alone. We took our time looking at everything, so whenever another group came we would let them pass to preserve the eerie feeling.
The first section is through a bunch of caverns and tunnels, and eventually you’re led to a little room with lots of exhibits about the structure, the remains and how this all ended up coming to be. It was super fascinating. At the end of this room is a doorway, above which reads: “ARRÊTE! C’EST ICI L’EMPIRE DE LA MORT” which translates to…
“STOP! THIS IS THE EMPIRE OF DEATH”
It’s getting scary.
And just beyond that doorway… THOUSANDS of human skulls.
I am getting chills just thinking about this right now. It was UNBELIEVABLE to see.
It was truly like an out of body experience for me. It was unreal to even think about the fact that these were the remains of MILLIONS of unidentified Parisians. I’m not going to unpack all the history here, you can read the wikipedia article if you want, but it was just an insane moment to be standing there surrounded by all the history, all those lives and stories, feelings, memories…it was chilling to say the least. Definitely a top travel moment for me.
We strolled through, taking it all in and listening to our audio guides. Something wild that I learned was that the space was actually used for private events in the early days, including an 1897 concert where over 50 musicians played songs inspired by the Catacombs?! Literally don’t know where you’d fit a full orchestra down there but sounds crazy.
At the end I took a photo of this counter that went up as we exited – they only allow 200 people down at a time!
We popped into the gift shop too, where I got some gifts for my family (they are as weird as me) and this fun tote bag for myself.
Next on the itinerary was some museum hopping but first we had to stop for lunch! We weren’t in the Catacombs long – only a little over an hour – but we had worked up an appetite.
I mentioned in my last post that we pre-planned most of where we would be eating. It’s just so much easier that way if you have multiple dietary restrictions to work with. On this day, however, we hit a snag. We had noted a place to check out (Cafe de Flore) that ended up being SUPER crowded and we were too hungry to wait!
But all worked out in the end: on the walk there, we had walked past a few other cute little cafes. We picked one and peeked at the menu to determine that everyone could eat something, and settled in for the cutest little meal at Le Bonaparte.
The setting was so charming – the seats outside faced the street so you could do some prime people watching while you ate!
Also, peep the ashtray on the table. This was one of the biggest differences between Europe and the US – smoking was so prevalent there! Having been there before I knew this would be the case, but it was still a bit of a culture shock to see things like a smoking room inside the CDG airport. Just so different from over here!
Anyway. The meal ended up being great! I had a croque madame (amazing) and Chris had a (surprisingly?) delicious burger with these yummy potato patties instead of a bun.
After our meal it was time to head to some museums. Quick sidebar here to talk about the Paris Museum Pass – we came across this while researching for the trip and after doing the math, it turned out to be a great deal. We knew we wanted to do both the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, and had a few others that we were interested in seeing but not enough to buy a separate ticket. The Museum Pass included both of our top priorities plus a lot more that we wanted to do anyway, including Versailles which felt like a deal in itself. We got the 4 day pass which worked perfectly and was well worth the price for us.
So anyway. Museum Passes in hand we headed to our first stop of the day – Musée Rodin! We didn’t have a ton of time, but really only had one destination in mind:
The Thinker!
I know it’s super touristy and seems wrong to go to a museum just to see one thing and then leave, but we wanted to maximize our time. I’d go back and spend more time there if I had a week to spend in Paris, but the Thinker was the priority this time.
We also enjoyed the other sculptures in the garden including the Gates of Hell:
Spooky.
After this we originally planned to go to Musée de l’Orangerie to see Monet’s Water Lilies, but didn’t realize that you had to reserve an entry time for that one. Definitely will have to check it out next time! Instead, we headed in to one of my favorite museums anywhere in the world:
We went to this museum last time and it is just so breathtaking inside and out. They have tons of beautiful pieces – the top floor is full of Impressionist pieces (my favorite) and there’s a gorgeous sculpture walk on the main landing too. The whole building used to be a train station so it’s also just a really neat building! I love it and would go again next time we visit the city too.
We came in to this one with a game plan as well, with a few “must sees” plus some extra time for strolling around and exploring. Sarah and I were on a quest to take a photo with every art piece that’s in Animal Crossing, and we found several here:
And lots of other beautiful pieces as well:
We were pretty tired by this point, so we headed back to our house for a quick nap before our evening plans. Once we were refreshed we headed out to our dinner destination! Tonight we were eating at a super fun restaurant called Yummy & Guiltfree – they specialize in sweet and savory waffles. The best part? The whole place is gluten free!!!!!!!! Chris was in heaven!
We tried an assortment of waffles (we got basically the whole menu lol) including a croque monsieur waffle, bolognese, chicken teriyaki, veggie, and a bunch of sweet dessert ones. They were all delicious!! Definitely a food highlight from the trip!
Once we were done eating we headed out to our evening plans which I was SO excited about. Keeping the creepy theme going for the day, we were taking a walking tour called “Dark City Secrets” which was full of fun spooky stories and history!
We had an amazing tour guide named Leo who walked us all around the Notre Dame area, sharing tons of cool and creepy facts and stories. It was so fun and we learned a ton of wild history! Everything from the Mystery Woman of the Seine to the Cannibal of Paris (yikes!) – it was all super interesting and just my type of tour.
When the tour wrapped up we were exhausted from our long day and headed back to our house. We weren’t too exhausted to have a late night snack though…so we did something super American and ordered McDonald’s. I know you’re rolling your eyes but I hear it’s different everywhere so we wanted to try it! Spoiler alert: it was not great! But it did the job for a late night snack at least. And apparently I took no photos of it so you’ll have to watch the vlog for those reactions lol.
And with that we passed out after another great day! We’ve still got so much more fun ahead of us – I hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned for the videos and posts still to come 🙂
xo! Kaela
