The Paris Catacombs, Paris

It was overall a great experience. Just the tunnels themselves were amazing and the bone display is a bonus! You go underground via spiral stairs. You cannot look up and down the stairs, meaning you don’t know how far you came and how far is left to go! Won’t recommend this to my claustrophobic friends. At the end, you get to the human bones. It is amazing thinking all these people had hopes and fears just like you. Great way to remember that “everything is dust.” The place is walking distance from a street with lots of designer shops…. which are also just dust if you think about it.

We came to visit the catacombs because it stated on their website that you could purchases tickets for the catacombs and the crypt (offsite of the catacombs) for 17 euro. It also stated on the website these tickets could only be purchased on site. We arrived ahead of time to wait on line prior to opening. The staff arrived right at opening while there was a line of people outside. The head staff member was very rude to us as he did not want to hear what we had to say. He stated tickets could only be purchased prior to arriving online. He then pointed to a sign to buy tickets online and a moment later came back with a sign stating all tickets were sold out. I understand that things do not always work out the way you want them to. However, I would suggest that they update their site to reflect the accurate information so that people such as myself do not make a trip unnecessarily and waste their time. Additionally, a little courtesy will go along when. The main staff member simple blew us off as much as we tried to communicate with him. It was very evident he does not enjoy his job or interacting with tourists. I wonder if he appreciates getting treated in the manner that he did when he is traveling.

We took two of our teens to Paris and the Catacombs of Paris was part of our amazing four days in the city. The 45-minute self-guided tour was a unique experience - and a little creepy. The artistic placement of the skulls and bones provided interesting photo opps. The history and learning opportunities were interesting and brought new appreciation to the catacombs. We bought our tickets online, day-of and were able to save some $$$. Also, kids under 18 are free, so that's always a plus in Paris.

Want to realize the value of your life and all that it contains? Visit here. You can just marvel at the limited time here on Earth, and ponder what the future holds in eternity. You are literally face to face with it by the millions of bones. I highly recommend doing this. I didn’t get to it until my 2nd trip to Paris, and happy I finally did. It was a very confronting experience to gaze my eyes and heart into what eternity may hold. Miles may vary for others, but this was my takeaway as someone of faith.

There is a very interesting story about how the decision was made to move so many bones into the old catacombs of Paris. You can see the YouTube videos and be impressed, but coming in person really is over the top. It can be overwhelming to see in person. There are a lot of stairs for this old body, but there are a bit fewer coming out than going in. It was worth the effort. If you are in Paris and this interests you, make the effort.