Friday, September 6, 2013Y
Les Catacombes et Le musée Guimet
Hi everybody!!
So yesterday I went to the Catacombs, which is an ossuary underneath Place Denfert-Rochereau. Stacked tightly together are the remains of six million people! The Ossuary was created for those who couldn't afford proper burials and to solve problems of overcrowding in cemeteries located around the churches of Paris. I've never seen anything so amazing! It's really hard to describe how I felt walking through those halls alone. It was a little eerie, and made me a little bit more aware of my own mortality. It was also a little sad for me, as almost all of the remains there are unidentified. But it was also really freaking cool! It was an amazing site to behold, and I would definitely go back again.
To get in though, I had to wait in this line.
Don't get me wrong, I have definitely been in longer lines than this, but it was almost 90 degrees and I was stuck in front of a large group of rather loud and pushy German students.
Good thing it was freezing inside the Catacombs! It cost 8 euro to get in, but trust me, it's beyond worth it. This is one of the most awe-inducing things I've experienced as of yet.
Some of the stacks were even arranged in patterns! I would have taken photos of those but it was extremely dark. Also, I guess I was right behind the Deftones while they were in there..I don't listen to them but a friend messaged me and said they posted photos from there seconds after I did. Cool!
I had someone take a photo of me near some human remains...you can see how dark it was in there! You can barely see me !
After that I went to a monoprix and bought a sandwich and a drink. Monoprix is like a one stop shopping center. They sell clothes, groceries, prepared foods, and a lot more! I got a Chicken sandwich and walked around while eating. I sat on a bench and people watched for awhile. After I finished (and also spilled tons of crumbs down my dress -_-) I decided to take the metro to Place des Abbesses near Montmartre to walk around. When you get off the metro, TAKE THE ELEVATOR UP TO THE STREET. I walked to the exit, saw the elevator, scoffed at it, and then looked at the stairs and thought 'bring it on!'
I will never ever ever do that again.
I kid you not, it was maybe 15 flights of stairs. Tightly wound, steep steps, mind you. I reached the top awkwardly sweaty and borderline dry heaving from the over-exertion (I don't work out very often and keep in mind it was 90 degrees!) The area itself is pretty and I wish I had stayed around there a little bit more than by the Sacré Coeur.
I decided to walk up to the top of Montmartre by the Sacré Coeur. This journey included (you guessed it) a fair amount of steep flights of stairs. It's the highest point in Paris and the view is spectacular. But to be honest I would advise only going there to see the view and the Sacré Coeur on the inside rather than walking around.
It's not worth all of the harassment.
I could not walk anywhere without someone trying to get me to buy something, give them my personal information, or having them attempt to herd me into their mediocre, tourist targeted restaurant.
I had to endure calls of "Mademoiselle, viens ici, t'inquiètes pas!"
That got really old, really really fast.
Needless to say the view is absolutely amazing.
Really, I hate asking people to take my picture, but It makes me sad to be out and about trying to discretely take selfies just to show I had been some place.
The stores around the area are the type you would find in Times Square in New York City, full of cheap I Heart Paris junk. I did buy two chocolate macarons for about 2 euro, and they were really tasty!
I walked around a little more, and saw this kitty!
I made my way back to my neighborhood and stopped for a coffee at a little market on the way.
That later turned out to be a horrible decision, as I slept maybe 2 hours last night. The street I'm staying on is very quiet, but because it's so quiet, anytime there is a loud noise it's magnified maybe tenfold.
At ten minutes to seven this morning, I was rudely awakened by the sound of a television playing loudly from the floor below me. Because it's still warm weather here and most places don't have air conditioning, people keep their windows open all day and night. I thought about yelling out the window but decided against it.
I went to Musée Guimet today, which is a museum of Asian Art. I got a reduced price ticket for being under 25 years old, which was nice!
This was part of a temporary exhibit on the
tsutsugaki, indigo pieces of fabric (they ranged all kinds of purposes, from marriage shrouds to robes for newborn babies) They were really beautiful. These were enormous tapestries hung from the ceiling.
There was also a Hiroshige exhibit! I loved the winter scenes.
Look at this sassy guy.
This was part of the Korean art wing. The colors were amazing!
This is Chinese art. To be honest there was so much Chinese art from all of the different dynasties so I don't remember much about them but I really liked these musician statues!
I thougt these were arranged really interestingly.
It would have been really embarassing, but I almost died laughing at this alone in the museum. LOOK AT THE NUBS, and it's expression, it's perfect!!!
Baby elephant ｡◕‿◕｡
Even back then, they had sass. I mean just look at this guy.
Also I laughed because these are all representations of the same woman/female entity...and her boobs are different in each one. I was laughing a little inappropriately I'm not going to lie.
I skyped with my friend Jackie in Korea today (Miss you!) and she was eating kimbap, which is like Korean sushi. So of course, I wanted kimbap too.
After that I went to the supermarket because I'm really sick of just eating bread.
THESE ARE MY FIRST KINDER BUENO BARS EVER. I COULD ONLY EAT TWO PIECES I WAS SO FULL. Kinder is illegal in the U.S. for the extremely stupid reason that their Easter Egg Chocolates are a choking hazard. -_-
These also tasted different than in America.
Okay, I've written waaay too much. Tomorrow I have to go to the train station and buy a ticket to Nice, my next destination. After that I will probably go to Pere Lachaise cemetery and the Marais.
<3
Olivia
12:54 PM
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