On my final day in Paris I wanted to try the Catacombs once again and the Louvre. The Louvre was open late tonight so I thought it would be the best day to try the megalith art museum.
Some background on my visit to Paris may inform this day. It’s hot here, over 100 degrees by 11am and it’s crowded. I don’t know the statistics to of tourism in Paris this year but it must be high because there are people everywhere. That being said, I began my day in a line …the line to the catacombs.
Today, I was able to the enter the crypts and it was a surreal experience especially in relation to my walk up St. Paul’s in London. It is a deep winding staircase to the limestone tombs below Paris and once at the bottom you enter a long mine that is a little taller than myself at best.
Walking through the crypt is unnerving. I kept thinking I was breathing in bone dust. I can’t explain how strange it is to be face to face with so much human mortality.
From the crypt I ascended the to the streets to eat a quick parisian salad and find my way to the Louvre and Sainte Chepelle. On my way I passed the construction of Notre Dame.
I was in a rush to get to the Louvre, I wanted a solid 5 or 6 hours to look around but I wanted to keep to my plan to see Sainte Chepelle as well, so I quickly stopped in.
On my way to the Louvre.
It is with the greatest disappointment that I found that the Louvre had sold out that day. There happened to be an exceptional amount of tourist here and this gargantuan art museum SOLD OUT.
After the undescrible dissapointment of missing the Louvre I didn’t know what to do. I remembered earlier that another tourist had mentioned climbing the Montmartre and seeing the view from the top of Sacre Coeur. So I headed that way on the whim.
It was a fitting closure to this discordant Paris trip: A climb to the tallest peak of the city to see all of Paris, a bittersweet experience.
Paris is an exceptional city. It is so different from the English cities only two hours north and stands as a cultural gateway to much of Western Europe.
Going East 