It took 6 months for the plan to come together - Talking to contacts on the internet to get the maps and discover access details, rearranging diaries, booking travel and ordering equipment but the Paris Catacombs are, for me at least, the holy grail of European exploration.
A rumored 300 km of subterranean galleries and rooms - some partly submerged - span across the south of Paris. Access is through manhole covers, hidden cellars or dug out sections of abandoned railway tunnels. Spread by word of mouth among the Cataphiles these locations are a tightly kept secret. Once discovered by the cata police the entrances are swiftly sealed.
Originally the Catacombes were a series of quarries, or Carrieries, dug into the limestone to provide the stone used in the construction of the city. As the city grew there were many collapses and in 1777 an inspectorate was formed to strengthen and consolidate the quarries. Long 'inspection galleries' were dug connecting the separate areas.
As Paris expanded further the room in the graveyards began to run out and in the late 18th century bodies from the graveyards, around 6-7 million of them, were moved into the quarries.
Since this time parts of the Catacombes have had many different uses - mushroom farms, brewery's, German bunkers, french resistance bunkers - in 1955 access to the galleries became illegal and is punishable by a fine.
Our journey into Paris was a long one, two ferries a drive and a coach journey. Walking through the city with our waders on and helmets strapped to our bags got some funny looks and a few interested people stopped to ask - "Êtes-vous cataphiles?"
As we got closer the excitement grew. The access was in the centre of a building site and as we approached we were watched by three girls from a balcony. Two English guys with massive backpacks and caving gear jumping over a fence and down a hole must have made quite a sight!
That evening we made our way towards the centre of the catas. There was a big party this weekend and as we walked we met so many groups of french kids. They had let off smoke bombs to keep the police away so navigating the maze of tight sand crawls was very hard.
We must have seen 50 people that first night, explaining we were English and here to explore for 4 days got a few odd looks - we were told we looked french which in the Catacombes I take is a compliment!
After a few hours spent running around drinking and chatting with different groups we headed to Salle Human Bomb at about 1am to camp.
We slept well, some of the Cataphiles from the night before came and partied in the room next to us for a while but didn't stay long and waking up around 9 we felt well refreshed and ready to go. Our first proper day of exploring!
Coffee was brewed, kit was packed, maps consulted and we were off! First stop was the Salle de Dragon and Le Depot.
We'd been there 5 minutes and had just got the cameras out when we heard footsteps approaching. Everyone had been so friendly last night we straight away shouted 'Salut!'
As the footsteps entered the room our smiles dropped.. Police!
To be honest they were incredibly safe.. After a few minutes of explaining that our french was poor and what we were doing the tension dropped away. They checked our passports and went through our bags. I think they were impressed at how prepared we were and my bag of french food, cassoulet, saucisson and french cheese seemed a good ice breaker - they had the same with them for lunch. Somehow we avoided the 100e fine and were told to leave the way we came immediately.
So we left.
A rumored 300 km of subterranean galleries and rooms - some partly submerged - span across the south of Paris. Access is through manhole covers, hidden cellars or dug out sections of abandoned railway tunnels. Spread by word of mouth among the Cataphiles these locations are a tightly kept secret. Once discovered by the cata police the entrances are swiftly sealed.
Originally the Catacombes were a series of quarries, or Carrieries, dug into the limestone to provide the stone used in the construction of the city. As the city grew there were many collapses and in 1777 an inspectorate was formed to strengthen and consolidate the quarries. Long 'inspection galleries' were dug connecting the separate areas.
As Paris expanded further the room in the graveyards began to run out and in the late 18th century bodies from the graveyards, around 6-7 million of them, were moved into the quarries.
Since this time parts of the Catacombes have had many different uses - mushroom farms, brewery's, German bunkers, french resistance bunkers - in 1955 access to the galleries became illegal and is punishable by a fine.
Our journey into Paris was a long one, two ferries a drive and a coach journey. Walking through the city with our waders on and helmets strapped to our bags got some funny looks and a few interested people stopped to ask - "Êtes-vous cataphiles?"
As we got closer the excitement grew. The access was in the centre of a building site and as we approached we were watched by three girls from a balcony. Two English guys with massive backpacks and caving gear jumping over a fence and down a hole must have made quite a sight!
That evening we made our way towards the centre of the catas. There was a big party this weekend and as we walked we met so many groups of french kids. They had let off smoke bombs to keep the police away so navigating the maze of tight sand crawls was very hard.
We must have seen 50 people that first night, explaining we were English and here to explore for 4 days got a few odd looks - we were told we looked french which in the Catacombes I take is a compliment!
After a few hours spent running around drinking and chatting with different groups we headed to Salle Human Bomb at about 1am to camp.
We slept well, some of the Cataphiles from the night before came and partied in the room next to us for a while but didn't stay long and waking up around 9 we felt well refreshed and ready to go. Our first proper day of exploring!
Coffee was brewed, kit was packed, maps consulted and we were off! First stop was the Salle de Dragon and Le Depot.
We'd been there 5 minutes and had just got the cameras out when we heard footsteps approaching. Everyone had been so friendly last night we straight away shouted 'Salut!'
As the footsteps entered the room our smiles dropped.. Police!
To be honest they were incredibly safe.. After a few minutes of explaining that our french was poor and what we were doing the tension dropped away. They checked our passports and went through our bags. I think they were impressed at how prepared we were and my bag of french food, cassoulet, saucisson and french cheese seemed a good ice breaker - they had the same with them for lunch. Somehow we avoided the 100e fine and were told to leave the way we came immediately.
So we left.
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