The Catacombs of Paris

Start off the "touristy" part of your trip to Paris with a trip to the Catacombs of Paris. The catacombs are a famous underground ossuary located south of the former city gate which is now called Denfert-Rochereau. The ossuary fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris' stone mines. The catacombs were opened in the late 18th century and the underground cemetery became an underground tourist attraction in the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis since 1867.

Plan on waiting in long line to see this unusually creepy bit of French history. In case you weren't sure an ossuary contains human skeletal remains. The remains were brought to the catacombs in the 18th century because parish cemeteries within the city of Paris were becoming so overcrowded that they were posing health threats to the people living nearby. Because of this city officials finally decided that the best idea was to move the remains underground into old quarries, now called the Catacombs. Since its creation the Catacombs now house approximately the remains of six million Parisians. It may sound grotesque but the bones are actually quite artfully placed. The bones are stacked as a form of decoration that line the quarry walls and many bones have been turned into sculptures. Keep in mind that you must descend down a spiral staircase of 19 meters, but the unusual sight of bones turned into art is definitely worth the sometimes dizzying decline into the underworld of Paris.