The Catacombs and Pompidou

It was a dark and cloudy day. And although the threat of thunder and rain was imminent, my friends and I took to the streets of Paris. I guess it made sense on such a day to explore the creepier areas of the city. The atmosphere was already set for something menacing...now what about the activity? In this state of mind, it's obvious where our journey took us: the catacombs. I wasn't too excited to visit Paris's underground burial site, where tourists finally got that opportunity to smile next to a real human skull. But as it is one of the city's main attractions (and I figured it would make excellent blogging material), I caved. 

I'm not sure why I thought I could easily handle walking forty-five minutes underground next to the remains of real human corpses. I can barely watch Law and Order without covering my eyes. Needless to say, it gave me the creeps and quite frankly, I was booking it by the end. The little British girl cracking jokes in front of me only made things worse.

"Daddy, why don't they put bones on the floor?"

"Oh no, darling, they've arranged everything in quite a respectful manner you see.."

"Well if they did, I would go 'crunch, crunch, crunch!'" she said, stomping her feet then falling into ripples of laughter. Little Devil. 

To be fair, I did enjoy the beginning of the tour when we were just winding our way down the tunnel. Every so often I'd hide behind the next wall and when my poor friend Danielle came ambling about the turn, I'd pop out and scare her. Oh, her face. Really made things more lively down there. She wised up after the third time though and starting taking very wide turns to peek out and see me before I could attack. Smart girl. Karma definitely got me back however thirty minutes later when I turned around and realized I'd lost all my friends. I had to walk fifteen minutes on my own before I saw someone I knew! Fifteen minutes! That's a lot of time to be alone and surrounded by dead people (this was also the time I got stuck with that little British girl who was obviously not as scared as me). 

I don't think I'll be visiting again anytime soon. But I know my underground adventures are far from over. Next stop: a tour of Paris's very intricate sewer system. 

Uh, oh. Anne doesn't like being the leader.

Now imagine getting lost along these tunnels...NOT fun.

Centre Pompidou

I only made it to the first floor of the Centre Pompidou and I'm sad to say I wasn't impressed. I don't know if it's my lack of knowledge of modern art that inhibits my appreciation...or if the stuff in there is just weird. Dragging my feet around, I managed to watch a video of a nude woman hula hooping with barbed wire. Then on to the next video about prostitution in Mexico. Very uplifting stuff, obviously. After the first floor, I couldn't force myself up the steps to the next level. I later heard, however, that the fourth and fifth floors are much more interesting, and that there are even some Picasso's to be found. Maybe next time. Until then, I thought the fountain outside was the most interesting part of the Centre Pompidou. Even in the rain. 

Versailles

Ah, Versailles. One cannot visit Paris and not stop by Louis XIV's humble abode. I had been to Versailles once before with my parents on a sweltering day in August, so visiting on an overcast October afternoon was a bit different for me. The chateau, as always, was beautiful. Extravagance doesn't begin to describe Versailles. Absolutely everything is gilded. Some rooms actually look like they were completely dipped in gold. Then there are the gardens, stretching for miles. Usually a scene of water arcs welcome you into the greenery, but the fountains had already been turned off. All that was left were the gaping mouths of frogs and tortoises, left empty.

While I was visiting Versailles, a very interesting art exhibition was going on. I didn't know before, but this particular exhibition has caused quite the debate in Paris. Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's animé-like work, in my opinion, could not have looked more out of place in the 15th century French chateau. Not only was it not aesthetically pleasing in any sense, but it actually distracted me from enjoying the beauty of the building. Decide for yourselves if you like it or not; but I think my pictures speak for themselves. And what would Louis think? Well, maybe if Murakami threw some gold paint on her sculptures he'd approve.

The chapel

Hall of Mirrors

I don't know who these people are but they looked oh-so-romantic in this paddle boat. And even more so in black and white.

At first there was just one...and I thought, 'Aw. What a cute little catfish.'

Then I throw one little piece of my ice cream cone in the water and suddenly 17 bloated catfish appear under me, begging me with their huge mouths. Not so adorable. 

OK, so I threw them a little more cone. It was fun to see them attack each other for it!

Takashi Murakami's Palace Exhibition

Bizarre and more bizarre