Paris in a Week

I am able to say that I have been to Paris 3 times in my life. The first time I went four years ago with my Aunt and Uncle and got a small taste of the city. Then earlier this year my sister and I made an overnight trip of it, since we were staying so close in Lille. Now I have gone back again before I settle down for the winter. We booked a week, this time in a small apartment, just next to the Catacombs. From there each morning we would go to the bakery to grab our breakfast and take along lunch and then head out for the day.

It was a perfect week. Not a day was put to waste and each one was used to its full capacity. We had a friend with us from Victoria visiting who had never been before so we took him to all the good spots.  Naturally we went back to the art museums, the D’Orsay, the Louvre, and then Notre Dame, twice. We also had the time to do things my sister and I had never done before.

Disneyland Paris was a must on our lists, it seemed silly not to go when it was but a train ride away, a perfect day trip. Of rides and junk food, or seeing characters on the streets from your favorite childhood movies, or watching the Disney castle light up at night, and emit fireworks and pyrotechnics. It was so good it only made sense to get a year’s pass so as to experience it sometime again.

From Disneyland to the Catacombs, where the skeletons of thousands lay to rest. What a sight that was, and we only just made it in time to see these resting bones, once living fully fleshed humans. As the door closed we were but the second to last group allowed to enter for the night. The others in the line, got the firm but polite, “Come back on Tuesday. We’re closed.” Rows of skulls and bones marked our path, thoughts of who was buried here and how had they died rushing through your mind. My sister and I laugh, for this was as exciting as a ride in Disneyland. What does that say about our childhood? And only earlier that day we had been enjoying the beautiful gardens and palace of Versailles. Two days before that we had been to see the graves of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. To our defence it was Hallowe’en, what else is one supposed to do, when one can no longer dress up and go trick or treating? The day after Hallowe’en was set aside for going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and looking out over the city. No ghouls or ghosts were to be seen.

This Paris adventure was a perfect balance of the beautiful and the macabre, and it couldn’t have been more wonderful.