Catacombs and the arc de triomphe

Day 3 greated us with yet more blue skies , but we decided to head deep underground

To the catacombes of Paris 

We traveled down a spiral staircase 132 steps, I have to say I felt a little dizzy by the time I reached the bottom.

The catacombs were created in around 1786, if you don't know their story you can read more about it here 

The bones are for the most part arranged in just neat rows, however in a few areas like the above photo they were arranged in a decorative way. It was really interesting in a macabre kind of way.

When we returned to the surface we jumped on the metro and headed to the arc de triomphe which we climbed to the very top,for yet another amazing view of Paris. I have to say I am just blown away by the carving in the stone of the buildings here, the workmanship is amazing.

After we finished at the arc de triomphe, we strolled down the champs élysées until we reached the place de Concorde and wandered into the Tuileries gardens, where we got to see

Parisians enjoying the sun

And with a gelato in hand we enjoyed the beautiful gardens, with  their freshly planted flowers, and looked on in awe of the beautiful louvre building.

We then crossed the Seine hopped the metro and headed back to the 5th arrondissement ( our area)
 to enjoy lunch in a cafe, the menu did present us with a bit of a challenge but we managed to order and I have homework, working out how to decipher the French menu . . . . My high school French is 
not quite good enough . . . 

Tonight Gadget headed off for a journey on his own, so I have two days alone to explore Paris.

Tomorrow I head to the Paris opera house and to the L' Orangerie And I think I will have a little wander around the ille st Louis  

Until then

au Revoir

Googy Girl