The Arc de Triomphe, the catacombs

Today began with something of a late start, since we were all rather tired from Marnnie’s late arrival and initial catch-up talk. We went to the same café down the street as yesterday for breakfast and decided on our plans for the day.

We began with the Arc de Triomphe, which honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic wars. Underneath is the tomb if the unknown soldier from World War I . The monument stands 162 ft in height, 150 ft wide and 72 ft deep. Its arch is 95.8 ft high and 48 ft wide. It is the second largest triumphal arch in existence, since North Korea built a slightly larger one in 1982 for the 70th birthday of Kim Il-Sung.

We climbed the 284 steps to the top, which offered an amazing view of the city. Atop the monument, we met two young women from the University of Cincinnati who are spending 10 weeks in Europe. We took some great pictures, and enjoyed most of the morning here.

We then took the Metro over to visit the catacombs of Paris. Most of Paris' larger churches once had their own cemeteries, but city growth and generations of dead began to overwhelm them. From the late seventeenth century, Paris' largest cemetery was saturated to a point where its neighbours were suffering from disease, due to contamination caused by improper burials, open mass graves, and earth charged with decomposing organic matter.

After almost a century of ineffective decrees condemning the cemetery, it was finally decided to move the remains of all condemned cemeteries to a renovated section of Paris' abandoned limestone quarries.

During World War II, Parisian members of the French Resistance used the tunnel system. Also during this period, German soldiers established an underground bunker in the catacombs.

They were fascinating to walk through, and Marnnie thinks they could make a mint by renting them out for Halloween.

This evening we cleaned up and went down the street for salads and wine. It’s been very hot here and the evening air felt wonderful, the conversation with Kim and my daughter, even better.