Catacombs of Paris

In the ground beneath Paris, hundreds of miles of tunnels run like arteries. Underneath the streets lie spaces of all kinds: canals and reservoirs, prisons, crypts and bank vaults, wine cellars transformed into nightclubs and galleries. None are as creepy as the infamous Catacombs. At a depth of 20 metres, equivalent to the size of a five story building, the catacombs lie deeper than the Metro and sewer systems. These 200 miles of old caves, quarries and tunnels are full to bursting with the bones of deceased Parisians from centuries past. The history of the Catacombs is one of gory necessity: the story of a city which could no longer contain its dead. The catacombs have existed since the 13th century, when the mining of limestone quarries to provide bricks for the city’s buildings created as a side effect an entire underground city: the carrières de Paris, an intricate web of tunnels, lying mostly under the southern part of the metropolis.

Saw:
Skulls = Des Crâne
Dirt = Saleté
Bones = Des os
Graves = La tombe
Stone walls = Murs de pierre

Heard:
A tour guide giving a tour = un guide donnant un tour

• Qu'est-ce que tu as fait?
• à Catacombes j'ai regardé quelques os

une omelette


Clafoutis