Obviously, I'm not ashamed of being a "chicken". Unlike most explorers,
I am female and I'll let you know when I have had too much. Unfortunately,
I had to give the Zone Tour guides Olrik and Lezard a hard time
on my exploration of the Catacombs in Paris, France. (My humblest
apologies guys!)
THE
MEETING
My husband and I hooked up with Olrik and Lezard in a cafe
in Paris one evening. I will readily admit that I am a novice, but
I haven't had a lot of luck finding any major explorers in Chicago
to show me the ropes. (Aside from the Northwestern Steam Tunnel
Team.)
We
had a fairly sized group that evening. It was kind of exciting meeting
some of the people that I had only read about or IM'ed on the net.
I had no idea what was in store for us that evening and it didn't
help that I had recently been suffering panic attacks.
There
were about 10 people in the group, total. We sat at a table in the
back of the cafe, had a beer and discussed other people's adventures.
Some people were only speaking in French, so I do not know what
they were talking about. Uno_Linux showed up, a young explorer from
New Jersey and a honorary member of CUE. It was good to see another
person who didn't understand French!
INTO
THE CATACOMBS
We were pretty ready to go, at least at heart. I had read
so many things on the net about the catacombs and the different
entrances. I assumed we would be hiking out to the rail yard that
I had seen so many times and read about as a main entrance. At this
point, I figured it was a good time to use the facilities before
heading out so I excused myself to the rest room. When I came back,
half of the explorers were gone! Next thing I knew Olrik was coming
back to the table saying that he could take 2 or 3 more. (I'm thinking
that the rail yard must not be far away!) So I grabbed my husband
and headed out the door. Little did I know that we were to descend
down a manhole in the middle of the sidewalk in broad daylight!
My
heart fluttered as I was rushed into the manhole and was given a
few instructions, like "get off the rungs and rest if you feel tired
on the landings". I climbed onto the rungs and took a look down....MISTAKE!
I am terrified of heights and now I was terrified of depths! The
catacomb manhole was a far cry from the easy 7 or 8 rungs into the
steam tunnels at Northwestern! I don't know how many rungs there
were and I think that there were about 3 or 4 landings, but the
drop must have been 50 to 70 feet!
I
began my climb down. My knees shaking and I'm already into a panic
attack that I can hardly notice from the adrenaline rush! My husband
followed above me. I felt so bad about dragging him into this. I
just kept going...slowly, further down into the darkness. It was
an amazing descent!
After reaching the bottom and my feet landing in about 5
inches of water, I looked up after my husband who was coming down
as Olrik was closing the cover at the top. I moved away with him
into a tunnel of the catacombs and awaited instruction or at least
a movement from the group.
After
everyone was gathered in the tunnel we began our trek.
At
first it just seemed like a steam tunnel. It was lined with the
brackets and bars that carry lines through the system. We were informed
though, that these lines were old telephone cables that were no
longer in use. The tunnel took some twists and turns and we eagerly
followed trying to keep up with the fast pace at which the group
was plodding. At some point the cables disappeared and we were clear
from the snagging brackets and into another tunnel with an arched
ceiling. This tunnel rapidly grew shorter and we had to crouch to
continue.
THE
RED ROOM
We marched on through twists and turns, stopping only briefly
to see a work of graffiti or an old sign carved into the stone naming
the streets above. Finally we reached our first destination. A small
room painted primarily red. This room has been used as a meeting
and/or partying place in the catacombs for years. On the far wall
of the entrance there is a "window" or alcove formed in the wall
and a painting of the face of a red-haired woman. Here, they placed
3 candles. On the wall to the left is a Japanese style painting
of an ocean wave, (although not the wave that most find on the internet).
The right wall has various figures and designs, including rats which
are the symbol of a group that used to hang out in the catacombs.
In
this room, our guides, were merciful and allowed us to rest and
explore a little on our own as well as offered us food and drink.
I felt very welcomed but guilty that not only did I not come prepared
I did not bring anything to share with the group.
I
got the opportunity to talk with Olrik about the catacombs and how
he and Lezard had started exploring. I guess that it was a comic
book that had peaked his interest when he was younger and the main
explorer's name had been Olrik. He and Lezard had been exploring
the catacombs for a long time. They said that they had taken many
people down there and that they had a group coming from Australia
to explore later this summer. They also said that their "heyday"
was when the person appointed to be in charge of the catacombs and
quarries had decided to keep trespassers out and was constantly
walling them up. Sometimes, they said that they would have a wall
down before the crew building had even packed up their equipment
to leave! It was as if they had an villain to fight and a challenge
to keep the quarries (catacombs) open.
After
awhile of relaxing and conversation, we moved on. This time, we
were going to enter an old Nazi bunker that had been built beneath
the city and within the catacombs. A piece of history that few had
the pleasure of experiencing!
We
plodded on through the tunnels until we came to a cavernous room
near to where we were to enter the bunker. The room was large and
had all sorts of crumbled wall areas and a pit. It obviously had
been used as part of the quarry system to obtain stone for the buildings
above. In the far corner I had discovered a miniature replica of
cliff dwellings carved into the stone. Someone had a lot of free
time to have carved the intricate details of small steps and windows
into the rock. It gave you kind of an eerie feeling.
THE
NAZI BUNKER
The bunker was enter by a hole that had been made in the
wall of one of the tunnels. To enter, you had to step up on some
rocks and crawl through. This was not a tunnel, though. Once you
were through about 2 feet you came down onto the floor of the bunker.
The
bunker was a large area filled with many rooms of various sizes.
Some seemed to have seen closets and others seemed to have been
cells or sleeping rooms. You could see where electrical wiring had
once been an active source of power. Many walls had signs pained
on them and at places "No Smoking" had been painted on the walls
in German. Mainly the rooms were empty but some things remained.
The humidity of the catacombs is not a good place for keeping anything
metal. You could see places where steel objects has just rusted
apart where they were left. The chem-toliets were an oddity left
behind. Large drum like objects with round opening on the top. Not
very inviting or comfortable looking. At one place I even found
the fragments of a human skull that had obviously been imported
from another part of the catacombs.
In
a room of the bunker, we rested and began a lengthy "dinner party".
I had no idea that people came down here so casually bringing with
them the makings for a small celebration! There was wine, beer,
cheese, fruit, cheese cake (not what Americans consider as such,
more like angel food cake), bread, "Cassoule de Canard" (duck casserole,
kind of like beans and ham), and brownies. I was amazed at the spread,
but too nervous to eat much or drink any alcohol.
In
the end after the dinner and conversation it was decided that those
who wished to leave were permitted and those who wished to remain
would go on to see the place of "Skulls and Bones". My husband and
I eagerly opted for leaving.
THE
DETOUR
On the way out we came across another room. Everybody filed
in and it was explained to us that the manhole in this room lead
up to a lecture hall in a university. Those who wished to climb
up and take a look around were welcome. This time I opted to stay
behind with everyone's bags.
One
by one they climbed up. This was probably only a climb of about
20 feet. My husband went and told me that it was just a lecture
hall with screens and seating. If there would have been the possibility
of an exit, I would have gladly joined them.
THE
EXIT
Basically, (and VERY much to my disappointment) we left,
the same way that we went in...back up the rungs to the sidewalk
above! This time I was exhausted which made the climb even worse.
My knees felt like they would give at any moment and I really had
to push myself for the energy. By the time I got to the top and
Olrik had popped off the manhole, I rolled out onto the sidewalk.
I was covered in catacomb dirt, my feet were soaked and I looked
like a tourist who had taken a wrong turn. A small group of people
was walking by at this time and seemed perplexed, but not too shocked
at the scene of people popping out of a manhole at 3:00AM!
My
husband and I walked on to find a cab, get home, take a shower,
go to bed and look forward to doing more normal "touristy" things
the next day.
Although...I
think I'd do it again!
RELATED LINKS
Underground
Paris - A Virtual Tour
http://triggur.org/cata/
Ancient Quarries Below Paris - Zone Tour
http://www.zone-tour.com/pages/sites/quarry.htm
French Quarries, Caves and Bunkers
http://www.titan.free.fr/indexGB.htm