Something else that had piqued my interest when researching Paris was Aura. Described as “an immersive experience which combines light effects, video mapping and original orchestral music. It intends to illuminate the Dôme des Invalides and help us (re)discover the magnificence of this jewel of Parisian heritage.“

And basically, it does just that.

Most famously though, the Dôme des Invalides houses the tomb of the great Napoleon Bonaparte.

The production delivered all it had promised, about fifty minutes of music and light representing the history of Paris throughout the last couple of centuries and well worth the ticket price and us staying up until it was dark 😉

The next day, allowing ourselves a sleep in after our first night up after dark, Russell and I parted ways, he to do a cooking class involving “tart baking” and me to do a photography tour with an expert.

My walking tour with the delightful “Clara” was wonderful and I did actually learn a lot plus I got to see parts of Montmartre that I hadn’t experienced previously. She was very patient with me and I highly recommend this type of tour if you wish to become a bit more skilled with your camera. I’ll let you be the judge…

Thank you Aperture Tours.

Finally, another place we had never gotten to on previous trips was the Paris Catacombs.

“In the late eighteenth century, when major public health problems tied to the city’s cemeteries led to a decision to transfer their contents to an underground site. Paris authorities chose an easily accessible site that was, at the time, located outside the capital: the former Tombe-Issoire quarries under the plain of Montrouge. The first evacuations were made from 1785 to 1787 and concerned the largest cemetery in Paris, the Saints-Innocents cemetery.”

Before being opened to the public in 1809, it underwent an extensive decorative rearrangement …..

…….The bones, which had previously been loosely piled, were carefully organized in walls, according to a quarry backfill arrangement. The façade consists of rows of tibiae alternating with skulls, and the remaining bones were piled behind this wall. They were often only small fragments, as a consequence of their being dumped into the quarry…..

Les Catacombes de Paris

So, we found ourselves in this very eerie and unique site –  twenty metres underground with millions of dead Parisians including some very famous historical figures that were unceremoniously dumped here during the French Revolution.

 

It was a very interesting visit, be sure to book ahead as they strictly regulate how many people can access the catacombs per time slot and rightly so.

We wandered streets, we reacquainted ourselves with the metro, with markets and with the great and grimy parts of this wonderful city and still didn’t complete half of my wish list.

Au revoir, à bientôt Paris!

Our transport already booked, it was a seamless ride to our apartment on the Left Bank in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés region in the 6th ‘arrondissement’ of Paris. We had visited but not stayed here before and it would turn out to be one of favourite locations yet.

The apartment was fabulous with the small caveat of half a dozen steep stairs en route from our bed to the toilet, a hip fracture waiting to happen during my nocturnal wanderings 🤣 A light and airy living area overlooked a lively square below which occasionally was a little too lively, but sound proof windows did the job overnight and mostly it was nice to have them open and just enjoy the experience of being back in Paris.

Having visited many of the “big attractions’ at least once previously I had been on the look out for the lesser known attractions/activities for this trip and we found the first of these a short train ride from our apartment.

The Eiffel Tower dominates the skyline from virtually wherever you are but we were to discover later that her surrounds are significantly impacted by the upcoming Olympic Games preparation. The opening ceremony is going to be held along the River Seine which presents a security nightmare so there are now glass barriers around the tower’s feet with access only to ticket holders and large grandstands are being erected in front of the Trocadero.

We paid a return visit to the Luxembourg Gardens, a short walk from our home and beginning to show its spring colours. It is the first time we have visited Paris not “fully leafed” and it was fascinating to see building facades and skylines we wouldn’t have noticed before.

Another morning we signed up for a walking tour learning about the role that the French resistance movement played throughout WWII. We both really enjoyed it despite the occasional April showers – our guide was a very passionate young man whose grandfather had been part of the resistance movement and he was a wonderful storyteller. (He is also an actor, has been in the Netflix series of Versailles if anyone has watched…)

We covered quite a bit of ground including but not limited to the location of Gestapo headquarters, the area around the Sorbonne, the Shakespeare and Company bookshop and many other notable sites. An intriguing aspect for me was the very significant role that women played in the resistance movement (some estimates suggest 25-30%), not least of whom was the remarkable Hélène Victoria Mordkovitch who was largely responsible for printing Défense de la France from the basement of the Sorbonne.

Also on my hit list was the Canal Saint-Martin, a 4.5 km long canal that connects the Canal de l”Ourcq in the 19th arrondissment to the Seine eventually. It is a small canal originally intended for the supply of drinking water to the capital and commissioned by none other than Sam’s favourite Frenchman, Napoleon. Inaugurated in 1825 , it has nine locks, two swing bridges, one lifting bridge and an underground vault for a total drop of 25m . (We went in the upstream direction.)

The trip took just over two hours and was really interesting, the boat was not overly crowded and the weather was cool but clear. (If I had not left my SD card in my laptop the night before I would have had some good photos too but the phone captured the concept. 😉

Disembarking from the boat we were a twenty minute Metro trip from Montmartre and since I had learned that you can climb the Sacré-Coeur dome that was also on the hit list.

As dark clouds threatened, Russell decided to visit the inside of the basilica and forgo the pleasure of 300 steps, enclosed spiral staircases and external roof top steps worn smooth by centuries of footsteps.

I emerged triumphant, (heart pounding, chest heaving) to driving rain pelting my face. Despite this, the view was sublime and I’ve done it!

Needless to say, we both slept well that night.

In the days to come, lights and music in Napoleon’s tomb, exploring the Catacombs, making tarts and how to use my camera 😍