France

The Catacombs

The Catacombs is probably one of the most well- known Dark Tourism attractions, which is the perfect attraction for urbex explores and dark tourists. The Catacombs is a labyrinth of unground tunnels that stretch to the outskirts of Paris, it is thought that their is over 200 miles of tunnels that lay beneath Paris, however their is only a small section of these tunnels that are open to the public as other parts have become dilapidated and not accessible.

Our Tour

From visiting the Catacombs, I have to say this is one of the most unusual places I have visited, it is the shire mass of bones that you encounter when exploring the catacombs that is eye opening. Me and my partner took a trip back in 2020 to Paris, with our main aim wanting to explore the catacombs, it exceeded our expectations.

The entrance looks like any standard entrance to a attraction, we was able to go straight through when we arrive as it was less busy ( this maybe because we travelled when the Covid pandemic was taking place), our tickets was checked which we booked online in advance and then went through a gate system before descending a limestone spiral staircase down to the catacombs.

People may find the decent to the catacombs is very long, and was longer than we expected, making your way through a number of small limestone tunnels which are lit but lighting throughout, which are not very big and you are only able to walk in a single file, these are about half a mile long before you enter a room with information boarders regarding the catacombs, from this room you then enter the catacombs where the placement of bones starts.

To start with it does seem a very small amount of bones mostly being tombs being placed on ever side of the tunnel walls. When following the tunnels you notice the shire mass of bones, as on each side of the tunnels excavated areas have been made to make the tunnels have cove like areas for bone placement, I would not be able to tell you how deep these areas go back as some of them are piled all the way up and other coves appeared to just lead in to darkness.

When walking through the tunnels, it is a direct route that you follow around, however you are able to look through gated areas that you can see are dilapidated along with hearing water dripping.

It is near the end of the tunnel system that opens up to a circular area with a bone like pillar in the middle, their is also seats around the edge, you are then taken back through a tunnel system like you started, leading up a spiral staircase, which takes you into a gift shop where you can buy bone souvenirs.

Short history

Their is thought to be 6 million skeletons below Paris, this is because back in the 18th century, cemeteries around Paris was becoming over full, one of the most notorious places for this was the oldest cemetery in Paris being Les Innocents however other cemeteries was facing similar issues, meaning people was not being buried correctly or was left out in the open which resulted in the smell of decomposing bodies being smelt. This resulted in the local people getting sick and infected.

Police and priests made the decision to move the bones to excavated quarries under Paris, this was done within the night time, this was so their was not an uproar from other church’s and local people, this was done between 1787 – 1814.

It was not to 1867 that the catacombs was opened to the general public after royalists wishing to visit the catacombs made it very popular.

In recent years the catacombs has been talked about, as in 2017 a group of criminal used the limestone tunnels to drill into someone apartment to get access to their vintage wine that was worth $275,000. The police have also found in the off limit areas cinema setups and meeting areas.

Napoleon Tomb

Our Tour

Our trip was to Les Invalides Museum was a very historical educational tour. Yes the main highlight is the tomb of Napoleon however their is so much more to this museum.

When arriving keep in mind that the dome area of where Napoleon is located is the back of the building you will not be able to enter this way, you need to go to the opposite side for the entrance, as we found out.

Their is different areas to this museum, when going through the main gate you are brought into the main courtyard area with facing cannons, giving an empowering impression on war before you have started your self guided tour.

To the right of the courtyard entrance their is arm and armour section which is from 13th – 17th century, which is an outstanding display, going around this display it gives you an understanding how the armour evolved over time and what soldiers and horses had to wear. It also shows the sort of weapons that was used in battle.

We also explored the Louis XIV –Napoleon 17th – 19th century which is located to the left on the main courtyard, this also shows what soldiers had to wear with in this period of time.

We did walk into the other sections however we spent more time with in these two sections before visiting Napoleon Tomb. I would say that the arm and armour section is a must see as you get visual understand of what soldiers and horse had to wear in battle.

Napoleon tomb is located around the back of the museum, we followed the left hand side path around to the back, which is taken from the courtyard area.

When making your way into the entrance of the Dome it is similar in looks to a church. Moving into the domed room you will notice the tomb of Napoleon is located under you, meaning you have to bow your head to see him. From this viewing point you are able to see the twelve angels that are located in a circle around Napoleon.

We explored the ground floor before making our way down to Napoleon, from this we noticed that diagonally from the circle viewing point of Napoleon their is other people at rest within the corners of the dome room. They are like little chapels built of the main dome.

The following people who are also located with in the Dome area are:

Napoleon II

Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte

The Generals Bertrand and Duroc,

Marshals Foch and Lyautey.

We then made our way to the back of the domed area which has steps on the left and right leading down to the tomb of Napoleon to get a closer look, after getting to the bottom of the steps you are greeted with a slopping marble ramp that leads into Napoleon, before entering Circular room of Napoleon on the floor their is a stamp marking of his head, like the back of a coin with the queens head on it. Within the the tomb area you get to take in the shear wondering from the bottom up to the ceiling as from looking up you can see that the dome is directly over Napoleon with his 12 angels located around him.

Short History

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Tomb is an architectural wonder, located at the Les Invalides in Paris. the highlight of the Tomb is the 12 angels that surround him, It has been suggested that they guard the tomb. It was French sculptor Jean Jacques Pradier who designed the angels.

The Dome in which Napoleon is located in was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1677, at the time the Dome was the tallest building with in Paris until the Eiffel Tower, It was first used for royal mass that took place at the reign of Louis XIV, It wasn’t until 1840 that Napoleon was moved from Saint Helena Island where he has been buried since 1821 and it was King Louis-Philippe who made the decision to have him transferred to Les Invalides, however a number of alterations needed to be made to fit his tomb inside this was done my architect Visconti, it was then 1861 when he was finally put to rest within the the Dome of Les Invalides.

Princess Diana Memorial

Everyone remembers where they was that fateful day that the news broke that Princess Diana had died within a crash in Paris on 31st August 1997. A number of people then flocked to Place de l’Alma in Paris, to pay their respect by leaving flowers at Flame of Liberty.

Many people think that the Flame of Liberty that is located above the tunnel of where Diana died was built in remembrance to her, but this is not the case the USA gave France the Flame in 1989 as a thank you for restoring the Statue of Liberty in New-York., It was from people laying flower that is got the symbol of a memorial to Diana.

Visiting the Flame of Liberty

When visiting this symbolic memorial to Diana, you can tell that it is a perfect fit in remembering a woman of such confidence. Flame reflects so much, from light to empowerment which makes it the perfect memorial to Diana as she was all of these things, and she was not afraid to stand out from the royal family.

It is located near the underground station Alma-Marceau, it is a very busy area with traffic so please be aware when crossing the roads. It is not like any other memorial I have visited as the gold leaf shimmers with in the sun, which is another reason why it is a perfect tribute to Diana, I can understand why people laid flowers and pictures here. The flame is the same size as the original Flame on the Statue of Liberty in New York, it sits on a black and grey marble base with a back drop of the Eiffel Tower, looking behind the flame and over the wall where the flame sits is where the exit to the tunnel of where Diana crashed.