Now you may judge eating McDonalds while on vacation but here is something I know - the food is consistent. So when you don’t know how your stomach will react to something, consistency is key! We also had fun ordering, as the menu was in French only, had to be done on screen and not over the counter and while there were pictures there was a bit of detective work to figure out what we were being asked.
So after a consistent sausage McMuffin and a disappointing, burnt coffee we Ubered across the city to the Catacombs of Paris. For those who’ve not been, this is a 1.7km underground walk through the burial vaults under the city. We found ourselves in a cool (14 degree) tunnel 133 steps underground - below the sewers and the water delivery systems of Paris, winding through metres of carved walkways and reading about the history of the quarries in the area. It is when we come across the sign at the doorway at the end that the time has come to enter the tomb proper - ARRETE! C’EST ICI L’EMPIRE DE LA MORT - Stop! Here is the Empire of the Dead that we see millions of skulls and shin bones arranged in burial vaults. The bones had been moved from various other burial sites around the capital following the cave in of underground quarries that were previously situated here. This frees up real estate for other things but also gave sense and purpose to the removal of the remains and meant families had a rough idea of where their loved ones were situated. It is a really interesting exhibit and I’m not giving it enough justice - it really is something you must see firsthand to appreciate it.
Back across town to the bus tour and we switched tracks today to go to the blue route - the Bohemian part of town! A quick walk up to Sacre Coeur Basilica to take in views across the city before a late lunch at a local kebab shop (I wanted Japonais but couldn’t convince Hayden) and suddenly our time in Paris was at an end.
We did see some interesting criminal activity while here too. From the top deck of our bus we watched a shoplifter being chased by a shop attendant - said shoplifter ran across traffic directly in front of our bus to avoid being caught, and he managed to not get hit by traffic. On the steps of Sacre Coeur we watched police asking the local itinerant girls (some may use the term gypsies) to turn out their pockets as a wallet was taken from a tourist.
Both Hayden and I vowed to never drive in Paris - we aren’t quite sure of the road rules, suffice it to say that this City really is the living embodiment of survival of the fittest. Drivers just drove anywhere, cyclists ducked in and out of traffic, electric scooters zipped all over and if you got sick of waiting for the guy in front to turn, you created your own lane and turned when you wanted. There were no line markings on the road, so sometimes cars were three abreast then down to two and back to three - it made our heads spin.
But it was encouraging to see the number of bicycles ridden - even more so when I watched a lorry squeeze past a cyclist on a narrow road and thought there is definitely no safe passing rule here - and then watched the cyclist catch the lorry in traffic and stop to have a quiet word through his window. No swearing, no anger, just a couple of quick sentences where I could see him pointing back at the pinch point, showing with his hands how narrow it was and then smiling and shrugging to show that perhaps the driver could rethink it next time. No road rage, then happily back on his way. Interestingly too - this was one of the only cyclists I saw wearing a helmet - they are not mandatory here.
So a quiet day in London today before we head to Poland tomorrow.
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