By the numbers
9681 Steps
7.05kms
Even though there was a bit of stress the night before about
the use of my cards and trying to sort them out, and the fact I went to bed
pretty late afterwards. I woke feeling really refreshed. It could have
something to do with the darkness as well since everywhere else seems to be
filled with light, the blackout curtains around the bunks do help even if I somehow
scored the top bunk again. I don’t choose the bed as it is chosen for me. It
doesn’t bother me that I have that happen anyway. I head down for breakfast and
get fed without passing through the office. No one stops me and everyone thinks
I am part of a group. I didn’t know that until later as I was leaving and
wanted to use the loo. I confused the girl guarding the breakfast room, which
is part of the bar. Because I had done the wrong thing, I got a breakfast card
and gave it to her. She was still confused when I hold her I had already eaten.
Maybe I should have used my translate app to explain. I only thought about it
now as I write this.
I had a booking that I wanted to keep at the Catacombs and I
was able to get onto the right train even if my ticket did not work in one of
the barriers. Turns out I was not the only one as I watched the same thing
happen to someone else. I tried in another and it then worked. Trust me to
break a barrier. I was in for a real treat during rush hour on the trains. I was
squeezed into a carriage where I was held up by everyone at my sides and
couldn’t move at all. That only lasted for one or two stops, but by the time I
got off the crowd had gone. I was in for a surprise when I went to the entrance
to the Catacombs, there were already two long lines. One was for those who had
tickets and another for those who did not. The no ticket people were the
longest. No one else in the line knew what to expect as there seemed to be
quite a few who had the same time. I was wondering what we were supposed to be
doing as others were of the same mind and I had turned up half hour before.
Once the line started moving it was alright and I was able to pick up my audio
tour and scan my code before going down.
There were quite a few stairs down even though that wasn’t a
problem. I had an audio tour and I started following it until, I got ahead of
everyone else with it. The audio told you about the tunnels and how far through
they went. Only a section the public had access to. I have no idea if that
entire area of tunnel is the catacombs, but this small section was interesting.
The air was actually really cool even though I was wearing a jumper to keep
myself warm, but the info online had said it was humid. I didn’t feel hot at
any time I was there. The piles of bones were meant to all be from certain
cemeteries within Paris and were labelled as such Throughout there were little
bits of information including numbers that were actually the year the surveyors
had inspected the tunnels and there was meant to be a black strip on the
ceiling to show people where to do. There were signs too of what street you
were under even though that didn’t mean much to me. You could tell there were a few people
wandering around as some you caught up to and others that you had missed after
passing them. There was at least one tour group that I knew of that I had
gotten away from at the beginning. Within the paths there were information
panels and some were in English. I was looking for a guide book to the
catacombs as they are easier. Its why I tend to take photos of the signs and
read them a little bit later. There were parts of the tunnels where my boots
didn’t get traction and I knew I had to be careful. When we did pop out the
other side there were more steps going up. And I was keeping pace with the
girls in front of me, which was funny. I didn’t expect to appear outside some
toilets or even a gift shop that was part of the catacombs.
I stayed there for half hour getting my bearings and
laughing at a teacher who was saying some of his students hadn’t showered. I am
sure he knew I was laughing and might have ignored a comment I made. I found a
cemetery that I had visited last time, but hadn’t really wandered around too
much last time. The Montparnasse Cemetery houses a few notable artists and
other people from Paris and maybe France too like the grave of Charles Pigeon,
which last time I couldn’t fit the whole picture in my camera frame. Now I
could with my phone. I took a wander through the cemetery and watching a lady
with a decent camera posing in front of several of the crypts. I don’t know if
she was doing that for instagram, but good on her for choosing a nice place to
take pictures. I took a walk amongst the mass off graves and immediately got
stuck as I thought I would come across the road, but I had chosen a path that
didn’t lead to a road, so had to literally go find it. If it was something like
at home, then it wouldn’t be a problem, but when they are all squeezed in
together. I soon found “I was not alone in my wanderings as there were other
people doing the same thing taking pictures and having a look. I did spot a
stone mason doing his job. I knew since it was early afternoon, I should head
back to the hostel.
I found a train near the cemetery that headed back to the station;
I was wanting to return to. There was around 16 stops before I could get off. I
looked at the ticket machine and found I could get a ticket for the airport,
which I will do before I have my bags on me. Not sure if I should use my cards,
but I don’t think it will be that bad. I found between the cemetery and the
Gare Du Nord station it had started raining. I walked to the hostel getting wet
as I knew I needed to sort out my washing or else I would really be stuck.
While I was out and about I had been checked in for my flight and now had a
boarding pass through FB Messenger. It was weird and I don’t know what to do
about that even though I can just drop my bags off. I did the washing and
everything came out nice and dry, which meant I was going to be ready for the
final stage of my journey. A few weeks in England. I had what I considered to
be an early dinner as I was thinking of going for a walk, but I did see
umbrellas and that stopped me from going anywhere as I had just washed my
clothes once already.
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