Back to Paris – May 2025

The Catacombs of Paris were quite something. We weren’t sure what we were getting into. You had to walk down 131 stairs but you only had to walk 112 stairs to get back out! Why do they have catacombs in the city? I wondered that myself. In the late eighteenth century, there were major public health problems tied to the city’s cemeteries. Contaminated air, stench, disease outbreaks, contaminated water and more forced the relocation of millions of bodies. They decided to transfer the bodies to an underground site. They started excavating bodies from 1785 to 1787 and was open to the Public in 1809. It was named Catacombs in reference to Roman catacombs.

  • Entrance
  • The stairs went round and round all the way down, or up
  • Map of the catacombs
  • Clint
  • It was somewhat dark and a little creepy
  • Info
  • Walls made of bones and skulls
  • Something about the eyes of God etc
  • A different design
  • More of the tunnel
  • There famous people as well as Royalty buried here
  • Hole in the ceiling from which they brought the bodies down

It was an interesting experience and very educational, as well as a little creepy. lol

That’s it for this trip. This was our trip in 2025 and I am always a bit behind in my posts.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip and see you soon !

14 thoughts on “Back to Paris – May 2025”

      2. “Paris Catacombs were built in the late 18th century to solve a massive public health crisis caused by overflowing city graveyards. As Paris rapidly expanded, centuries-old cemeteries became severely overcrowded, leading to unsanitary conditions that threatened the health of nearby residents.” I guess the cemeteries were overflowing and this was their answer, still creepy but at least there’s a reason !

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  2. I’m not a big believer in ghosts but If I were I would suspect MANY in this spot!

    Good thing you left Trum at home, poor little guy would be permanently traumatized!………but then when I think of it……Trum doesn’t have any bones!

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  3. Wow, you’re right Susan – very interesting, but creepy as well. At first glance at the wall with the skulls, I was thinking “well, why did they leave some of the skulls sticking out of the stones?” Then you captioned the picture as “walls made of bones and skulls” – they were bones, not rocks. Eww. The dark passages inside, the irregular number of stairs to enter and exit and yes, creepy, but an interesting, but macabre experience.

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      1. Yes it was creepy and they thought it worked for the Romans, so they should copy that idea? Maybe it worked for disposing of diseased bodies and to avoid contamination to healthy persons, but the display of the remains is creepy and horrific. You dealt with a lot of stairs on this trip – I am imagining that the travel brochure for the company you always use discourages those who may not be able to do all the walking, climbing. I remember a boss long ago who honeymooned in Hawaii and he told me he felt badly for older people who waited until retirement to visit Hawaii and were unable to do some of the tours as it was too rigorous.

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      2. Walking I’m ok with, we do a lot of hiking/walking but I am having an issue with going up stairs, going down is ok. I have trochanteric bursitis in my hips and going up stairs aggravates it. We were in Paris on our own so I knew about the catacomb stairs but I really wanted to go! I just take my time. I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii but we won’t be going.

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      3. That makes it rough for you then Susan – you don’t want to add strain to your hips and cause pain. At least you were on your own schedule in Paris and in other tours when you go off on your own, so you can take your time. I know Hawaii is beautiful and scenic, but given the choice, I’d prefer to travel and see sights like you and Clint see, architecture, famous sites I’ve read about.

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