Subterranean Signage: Scary or Sad?
A fascinating walk through Les Catacombes de Paris
Above ground this September day in Paris was hot — almost unbearably so — after I walked the wrong way and walked much farther than I needed to. It wasn’t until I stopped and asked some American tourists sitting at an outdoor table at a typical Parisian café that I was pointed in the right direction. I was loath to believe him — it just didn’t seem right, but not having any further information, I obeyed, luckily, or I might still be wandering around the 14th arrondissement.
After waiting in a queue for at least half an hour, I was happy to enter the catacombs to escape the scorching sun. I welcomed the tight security. I don’t want to be in an enclosed space with any potential crazies. I was pleased they let me through.
The temperature inside was cooler but the smell hit me immediately I started my descent into the depths of the catacombs. Down, down, down the steps I progressed slowly, standing to one side letting other faster walkers overtake me. I wondered if I would become claustrophobic not so much from the enclosed space but from the musty oppressive odour. I reached the start of the catacombs where a sign told me I was over 19 metres below street level. Eek!
A young woman came hurtling past me heading for the entrance. She looked panic-stricken so I just stepped out of her way. She was mumbling, “I can’t do it. I can’t do it.” I was fervently hoping I could. I soon became accustomed to the strange smell and as I walked it disappeared completely.
I was fascinated by the history of the catacombs and the artistic way the bones were displayed, but what brought me back to reality were the quotes. Though they were written in French, they resonated with me as I read them. Even though it was more than fifty years ago when I learned French, it came to the surface of my brain when I was in France. The previous day, I’d had a conversation mostly in French with a couple of young graffeurs I’d met under a bridge.
But I wrote about the history of the Parisian Catacombs here.
All of my group was so far ahead of me that I could stop and read the quotes whenever I wanted. I also read which cemetery the skeletons were exhumed from and when this occurred. But the quotes drew me in even though my understanding wasn’t perfect.
This one: “They were what we are,
Dust, plaything of the wind;
Fragile as men.
Weak as the newborn.”
Lamartine (1790–1869)
And this: “Thus all things pass upon the earth
Spirit, beauty, grace, talent
(Life) is an ephemeral flower
That is knocked down by the slightest breeze.”
“Fools, we speak as masters,
We, who in the ocean of beings
Swim sadly confused.
We whose flimsy existence,
Similar to the passing shadow,
Begins, appears, and is no longer.”
Malfilatre
My walk through Les Catacombes de Paris was neither scary nor sad. It was fascinating and humbling and I came away with an appreciation for life, not death.
Paris was my first continental European city I visited in 2023. It was not my first time in Paris, but I had never been in the Catacombs on past trips. The visit and the quotes left me feeling introspective and appreciative of my life. I wholeheartedly lived the adage, “Live each day as if it’s your last,” and made the most of every day my European adventure.
I was open to meeting people and going with the flow and it was honestly more enjoyable because those quotes that I had absorbed into my being at the Catacombs stayed with me for my entire trip.
Life is fleeting…we are only here for a short while… so do what makes you happy… make the most of every moment you’re alive… enjoy your time on earth… no one knows when it will end.
Tara Torres’s submission to the challenge is a story in itself without all of the signs.
Barb Dalton’s effort is all about the signs and she manages to find examples of every type of sign that Anne Bonfert lists in her challenge.
