Paris - Catacombs, Canal Boats and Champagne.

Last night The Operator had been poring over the subway maps and had planned the travels for today. We aimed to be at the Paris catacombs for 10.00am when they opened. We had to make a couple of transfers but we were working the subway like pros! Rosie and The Operator popped up out of the metro directly in front of the catacombs feeling very self satisfied thinking we would get a coffee in as it was only 09.40, we had twenty minutes up our sleeve before the crypts opened..

Then we saw the line. It had already wound out of sight around the corner, The Operator reckoned there would have been more than 200 people waiting!

Rosie and the Operator have been to the catacombs before…about 10 years ago…back in the day you just rocked up to the door and there was no one waiting, it is abit of a macarbe destination and Rosie blames the vampire and zombie TV series for populariseing this gothic destination.

In a nutshell, the graveyards of Paris were overflowing in the late 1700s after 500 years of burials. The bones of the dead were collected and placed in the old limestone mines that undermined the Left Bank. The caverns hold the bodies of over 6 million people and all the bones have been artfully arranged in the walls, you wander along a gloomy tight walk way and stare away at all the grinning skulls learing at you from the walls….the amusing thing about our last trip was at the end they checked The Operators bag to make sure we hadnt pilfered any bones. So you can see why we wanted to revisit this site. We will come back in the afternoon.

Rosie picked her jaw up off the ground at the que and said ‘next stop on the itinery’…we turned around and disappeared back underground. Off we went to the Canal St Martin.

The canal is 4.5km long and was built by Napolean Bonaparte in 1802 to supply the growing population of Paris with fresh water and help prevent disease. Canal boats also plied it moving food and building supplies into the city. It was able to be built from the funds of a new tax on all wine….bet that went down really well in Paris. In the 1970s traffic on the canal had dwindled and the city was looking at filling it in but the locals rallied and now it is popular summer destination and growing trendy neighbourhood.

It didnt start off that promising, the neighbourhood we popped up from the subway in above was decidedly dodgy looking….trash and graffitii were everywhere and rubbish was floating in the canal. HHHHmmmm, we started following the ancient uneven worn cobbles on the side of the canal and hoped it would get better. As the sun came out and the sky turned blue it just got more and more picturesque, the great big canal side warehouses gave way to elegant Parisian style townhouses and then small boutique shops and cafes popped up as well. A few joggers and cyclists were on the canal path, other than that is was really just Rosie and The Operator until we got to the locks, then the people were out in nice small numbers watching the lock exchanges from the humpy back bridges.

Leafy trees border the canal and a couple of tour boats ply the canal a couple of times a day, 9 locks and two swing bridges cover the canal, the sirens sounded, the barrier arm went down over the road and it swung out of the way to let the boat through, it was great seeing them in action. Rosie and The Operator were blitzing that tour boat on foot, and we even stopped for coffee, was so much nicer walking.

Along the way were little humpy backed bridges tucked under the trees, on the railings were hundreds of padlocks secured to fencing…all with lovers names written on then and padlocked secure to keep their love strong, me thinks you are supposed to through the key into the canal as part of the process as well, oops, I mean love ritual….naaawwww, how sweet.

The canal ends in Place de la Republic and actually traverses under ground through a tunnel for a couple of blocks before re emerging at the Seine.

It was 11.45 by this time and Rosie was feeling a little peckish, a quick look on Tripadvisor for a restaurant nearby and we were sitting in the window of La Marine overlooking the canal having just beaten the midday rush, which was perfect cause this place was busy!

The Menu of the Day was two courses for 15 euro. What selection they had too, we couldn’t understand a couple of things on the menu and in 5 seconds the Operator had googled the description and there was a picture and description in English right in front of us. Brilliant. So saying, The Operator sat down with a 4 glass pichet of Burgundy and started with smoke cured herrings on a bed of potatoes slathered in a delicious herb infused oil, Rosie had a glass of Chablis and the Terrine of duck with a yummy light salad of mini gherkins and pickled onions on a bed of lettuce and julienne tomato’s.

My Principle was an Alsace Sausage on a bed of lentils and lardons. The Operator had the most tender, mouthwatering veal in a beautiful sauce with creamy mashed potatoes…..it was so beautiful the Operator felt sorry for me and we swapped half time…not that mine was bad, but his was just divine.

Total cost of meal with drinks = E48 euros.

So, lunch out of the way and feeling a little tipsy, we trained back to the Catacombs, popped up across the road and saw….an even longer que line. The Operator went up to the people in the front of the que and asked them how long they had been waiting….they said they had been there sine 1130 am…time then was nearly 3pm. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!!!!!!

The sad thing as observed by The Operator, the people halfway to the back of the que are not going to make it inside before closing….we turned around and went home. Followed by a huge shower of rain that is looking at settling in for the evening.

So, back to home we trotted in the deluge of rain, stopping at the supermarket for cheese….yes, this is the cheese aisle….a whole isle dedicated to every cheese known to man…..amazing. The supermarket had quick ready packaged food on the street level ideal to scoot in, grab your evening and go. The boring old home essentials were the next level down….how does that work you may ask…check this out! An escalator for you, and one for your trolley….awesome!

This is our last night in Paris, tomorrow we pick up the rental car and hit the roads of France and Germany. Our first stop is Nimes in Champagne….so lets crack open another bottle and a few macaroons for dessert…man, they taste so much better in France.