When Amy suggested that we visit Les Catacombes de Paris with her friend Adrienne, I was curious. I knew that they existed. But, visiting the catacombs of Paris on Halloween? That was a peak experience not to be missed.
As we stood in line and waited for our entrance time, I wondered what the experience would be like.When Amy suggested we spend Halloween visiting Les Catacombes de Paris with her friend Adrienne, I felt a tug of curiosity I couldn’t ignore. I’d always known the catacombs existed. I knew that it was an underground system of graves. But, the idea of descending into the history and mortality of it all on Halloween felt like an experience I simply couldn’t pass up.
As we stood in line, waiting for our assigned time, I found my mind wandering. Would it be weird AF, overwhelming, or strangely peaceful?
When we finally entered and received our audio devices, my curiosity intensified. A quiet stillness hung, along with our feet carried us down the stairs.
The tour began innocently enough, with stories of the ancient quarries and the limestone blocks that had been hauled from this very earth to construct the grand architecture of Paris above.
And then, the shift came.
We turned a corner, and suddenly I was front faced with neatly arranged walls of skulls and bones. Thousands of lives reduced to silence, hundreds of years later.
No amount of reading or imagining prepares you for the moment when you stand before such raw evidence of the human end.
It was humbling.
In that dim light, surrounded by the remains of so many who had lived, laughed, loved, and eventually died, I felt a profound awareness settle over me: death comes for us all. Not as a threat, but as a truth. This is the fact that binds us more closely to each other than we often realize.
It was, undeniably, powerful. Truly, a Halloween night I will not forget.
Les Catacombes de Paris
1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy75014 Paris, France
