Paris # 6 - Our Last Days in Paris

Dinner Theatre on the Seine

Well, the last few days have been very busy! 

One evening we went to a dinner theatre. When we were planning our trip, Megan had asked if we could go to a show. She thought she'd like to see one of the shows that had the ladies with feathers. I explained that the problem was the ladies didn't wear much else other than the feathers! But, I began looking for some other show that wouldn't be too difficult for us to see in French. I finally found a magic show/dinner theatre; Métamorphosis is held on a refurbished barge moored on the Seine near Notre Dame. 

Notre Dame at Sunset

We dressed up for our dinner at the theatre and felt very elegant as we walked along the old streets, across the bridges over the Seine and by the huge medieval cathedral of Notre Dame. The dinner we had was very pleasant and the staff went out of their way to serve us. The only problem I saw was that, every time a boat went by us, the barge rocked in the wash - and I'm extremely susceptible to motion sickness. There were a few moments there ...

The magic show was fun. It was all in French, but we were able to follow the basics. It was a great evening.


One day we spent mostly underground! We started off with a visit to the catacombs and this turned out to be one of the trip highlights for Megan. The catacombs are the remains of mining galleries hundreds of years old. Apparently there are miles and miles of tunnels. They have been used for partying for generations and were hiding places for the resistance during World War 2. However, the main feature is the bones. Beginning a couple of hundred years ago, the city began clearing out their graveyards for sanitation reasons. They have re-interred bones from city graveyards in the tunnels and this is now a tourist site. It sounds macabre, but was actually fascinating. The bones are piled on either side of the tunnels, leaving a three- to five-foot walkway down the centre. The bones are neatly, even artistically, stacked in groups according to which cemetery they came from. Most of the stacks are about five feet high and some go back into the darkness for many feet. I don't know how far we walked along these tunnels, but it seemed a very long way. Finally, we came to end of the tourist section and climbed back up into the daylight and walked on, leaving footsteps outlined with catacomb dust.

Our next stop, on this very hot day was Napoleon's tomb. It is located in the fabulous domed building known as Les Invalides. Once inside, you slowly make your way to the lower level and walk around his exposed casket (actually it's a casket inside several other containers - nothing particularly macabre here).

Then we headed for a tour of the sewer system.  Paris has a very old and extensive sewer system (think Les Miserables). This not-too-long tour gave us a chance to see some of the more modern sewer tunnels and the machines that have been designed to clean them out. It was a tad stinky.

The next day we took a train to see the Palace of Versailles, the last home of Louis and Marie-Antoinette before they were arrested and lost their heads. It is a spectacular place, but completely lacks the charm and intimacy of Malmaison. We enjoyed Malmaison much more. When we arrived in the town of Versailles (after Megan left her new hat on the train, but that's another story!), we walked to the palace and could see that the tour busses had already arrived in full force. First we toured the palace itself, but found it cold and impersonal. And crowded. Then we headed for the park area (huge park!) and watched the spectacular fountains do their thing. We had lunch at a patio restaurant by the man-made lake and then rented bikes to explore the rest of the park. The bikes weren't nearly as good as the ones we rode on our earlier bike tours, but they did the trick. Megan took the lead and we cruised all around the grounds. The day was so hot, it was hard to enjoy everything as much as we wanted. But, it was a good day.

Our last full day in Paris was devoted to sites on the Ile-de-la-Cité, considered the centre point of Paris. We started with a climb up the Notre Dame towers. (Puff, puff.) The top of the towers give you a view of the gargoyles that is up close and personal. Although they're very creative, I found them a tad macabre.

We followed this up with a visit to the underground ruins of ancient Paris - ancient as in Roman and early medieval. These ruins have been excavated in the area directly in front of Notre Dame. 
We also took time to visit the nearby church of Sainte-Chapelle. I'd heard that this church was a must-see but, I must admit, I had no idea how glorious it really was. The entrance is through the basement and gift shop, giving no hint of the chapel area. After spending all your souvenir money, you go up some winding stairs in the corner and emerge into brightly coloured light. I literally gasped. The stained glass makes up the walls and in the morning light it was just unbelievable. If you have a chance to see this place, go!

Our last sightseeing stop of the day was La Conciergerie, an ancient palace cum prison. Significant prisoners were held here before losing their heads ... like Marie Antoinette. It's rather barren inside, but very massive and impressive.

By the end of the day we were feeling rather worn out from sightseeing and looking forward to renting our car and heading out of town for a few days in Normandy.