Having visited the Catacombs in Rome, we were interested in visiting the ones in Paris too. Despite all the reviews talking about having to wait for hours, here we experienced one of the benefits of travelling in winter in Europe – no lines at all! The catacombs were really interesting.  Originally a space for mining, they changed function in the late 18th century when some of the aboveground cemeteries were closed down for being unsanitary, and thousands of bones were moved underground here.  I found it quite creepy wandering through almost a kilometre of bones underground, but Reubs wasn’t bothered by it.  (If you are easily spooked you might want to just scroll down the page…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our adventure underground, we headed to the Musee d’Orsay, where we spent a few hours admiring the art.  No photos were allowed of the pictures, but some of highlights are here and here (as well as the amazing building itself here).

 

 

Our apartment was in Montmartre, but on the non-touristy side of the hill. A ten minute walk from our place took us to the famous Basilica of Sacre-Coeur, complete with tourists, stalls selling souvenirs and even karaoke on the steps!

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting the Basilica, we went to the Montmartre cemetery, but couldn’t find anyone famous (definitely a place to have a map – we couldn’t find the office where one could supposedly get them).

 

 

We wandered around the streets of Montmartre and found the famous Moulin Rouge, which is actually much smaller and less exciting than I had thought it might be.

 

 

 

We didn’t pay to go in, but joined the other tourists flocking to take photos! I definitely had my beloved Moulin Rouge soundtrack going through my head.

 

(Some of you may recognise this song from Moulin Rouge from our wedding where it was sung by Reuben’s dad and sister…special memories!)