Visited with Oxygen Thief. March 08
The Paris Catacombs - Some people know the history of the
catacombs,
other may not.
Basically the Paris Catacombs is built with in a 40 metere layer of
Lutecien Limestone, built up over millions of years, and originally
covered by ocean.
Fossils of small sea creatures can be seen in the rocks in some areas
of the catacombs.
The area began to be quarried by the Romans in open air quarries, but
was in the 12th century that the technique of digging tunnels to
extract the rock was used.
In 1777, The Inspection des Carrieres( Quarries Inspection) was formed
due to high amount of collapses with in the quarry tunnels.
The inspectors would mark the galleries they have checked by inscribing
the the date and initials. and sometimes and abbreviation of the work
carried out.
The Catacombs name is used as a general term for the Great Southern
Network(GRS) but the catacombs are only a small area of this network.
The area refers to The General Ossuary. With major overcrowding in the
cemeteries causing health problems, it was decided to move
6 million corspes from graveyards over a 75 year period into the
underground tunnels.
Today the Catacombs are mix of old quarry workings with unfinished
work, smooth brick tunnels built from waste rock, aquaducts, old
telecoms tunnels, german and french bunkers from the war, and now local
french explorers continue the history of the catacombs. Building rooms
out of the rock in various area of the network creating a living
underworld, a life below ground where people meet, explore, relax and
party.
The Paris Catacombs are pretty much unique.
Planning-
After visting the catacombs last summer on a 24 hour trip, and not even
managing to see half of the GRS, I lept at the chance when Oxygen Thief
mentioned planning a 4 day trip underground to cover the WHOLE GRS.
Since the initial decision to go and Eurostar tickets booked, it
was a couple of months before the actual trip. But time soon caught up
on us and a few days before leaving, we had to do some major route
planning, and
equipment lists.
A whole day at OT's sorting a route that would cover every feature and
tunnel while not covering the same ground twice was hard. Also not
knowing if some
tunnels were unpassable with high water, or low ceilings.
It meant the route was flexible and more than likely to change as we
progressed.
4 days underground meant we had to carry everything we needed. Food and
water were obviously essential, and beer. Helmets, headtorches,
backups, waders,
hammocks, sleeping bags the list grew and grew.
All the equipment we took was bare minimum, nothing more nothing less.
The rucksacks were weighing in at 30kg!!!! with out half our food or
water which
wouldnt even fit in.
We decided on taking a stash bag with food and water which we would be
used for days 3 and 4. This on its own weighed another 5kg. We would
hide this bag
in the network and retreive it when we ran out of supplies from the
main bag.
Food wise we would be living on Self heating meals, mule Bars,
maltloaf, water and beer.
The 30 kg was heavy to lift but having it on your back for 4 days,
climbing, crawling, stooping and dragging it through miles and miles of
tunnels was going
to be hard.
The Trip -
We left on the wednesday from St Pancras to Gare Du Nord, and found a
small cheap hotel for the night and we werent going in until the
morning.
We met with Rug our French contact and his friend(i cant remeber his
name), and we over a few beers arranged to meet them in the GRS on
saturday night.
Got back to our hotel at 2am, and had to be up at 6 to start.
A bit of over sleeping and we headed for our entry point and were in
the network by 8am.
We walked around looking for a good stash point for the food bag. After
that was sorted the exploring could begin.
We headed for Le Passe de Muraille (man in the wall). Originally a
plaster cast of an explorer coming out of the wall, but has recently
been vandalised and is missing an arm and his head is partially
destroyed.
We walked South and came to a spiral staircase to the surface with a
concrete cap. Workmen just above our head digging up the road, could be
seen through a
small hole. Back down the stairs past our level and there was a small
sub level, that went in a loop round but had a small room, which had a
few old roadsigns which must have been brought down the stairwell when
it was accessible.
We were now of the most southern point of the GRS map, but decided
to continue as far south as we could.
We came to what we thought was the end of the tunnel, but a breach
meant we could squeeze through a tight hole and continue on. We left
the bags behind to do a quick walk not thinking it would go far.
After a few hundred metres we headed back to the bags to retrieve them
as it was clear it was long network of tunnels. It is common to see
blue enamel plaques relating to the street name above. But we came
across a white plaque at the bottom of a set of stairs to the surface.
Access is blocked at the top. But the stairs were for easy access for
the Inspectorss of the tunnels and plaque named the inspectors, the
Engineer of the Mine and the Controller of the Mine.
Further down we came across some iron gates, unsure of what these were
for, but it may have been to seperate areas quarry owned by different
people.
At the far south was another small room, decorated in paintings and
small 'towns' carved out of the soft stone.
Headed back north we tooks a slightly different route and came across a
small wall. Later we find out this part of an old Fort built in the
tunnel to prevent
people coming up behind the defenses underground.
We headed back to Le Passe de Muraille and sat for a break, we saw that
the tunnels were the Le Vanne Aquaduct which OT actually had a seperate
map for but didnt relise.
We travelled west along Boulevard Jordan, hoping to explore every
tunnel along our route, but high water levels and low ceilings on this
route
meant they were impassable. We stopped in the 'Page Room' and small
square room with no obvious features. Room named after the word 'Page'
carved on the floor, although we couldnt see it.
Checked a few passages branching off the main 'road' but with no finds,
so we headed for the 'Ram Room' first passing a mosaic on the wall 'JC
Saratte' made in honour of Jean Claude Saratte who was Chief of
Undeground Police
Brigade.
The 'Ram Room' consisted of a few stone benches with some carvings and
mosaics and a didgeridoo.
Continued South to 'The Viandox' were there was a collection of bones,
may have been childrens bones and they were all very small. Unsure why
these bones were here and we were miles from the main Ossury.
Back north to Porte De Orleans crossroads and went West to see if there
was access to the far West of the network, but after a very long walk
the end was sealed as the tunnel crossed into a technical gallery, a
term the
French use for a telecoms or service tunnel.
Back we went at a Junction with Rue des Plantes we head north. The side
passages were very low, and with all the stooping and weight of the
bags was already beginning to getting annoying. The stooping and
crawling was sapping
the energy faster then i had imagined. Having to navigate with the map
while moving, means you dont always see the low ceiling, and so you
whack your head on the ceiling, you dont always see rocks
on the floor so you stub your toe.
The combination of trying to
concentrate on so many things, and navigating, back ache, a heavy bag,
hitting your head and drinking water constantly to rehydrate can
sometimes seem like torture.
The 'Painted Rose Room' was at the end of one of the tunnels.
The room entrance was sealed and could only be seen through an
unaccesable hole.
The room may have been sealed because of a stairway to surface level
that was open. Couldnt see any sign of why it was the 'Painted Rose
Room'.
So back to Porte De Orleans crossroads, and north towards 'La Banga'
and tunnel of deep water, that was close to going over the thigh high
waders i was wearing.
Next was the 'Castle Room', a castle carved out of the rock and other
gargoyle feature carved around the room, with a table and seating
around.
A few rooms down was the 'Flower Room'. A room filled with plastic and
sometimes real flowers .
Continued down the passage to almost a full circle to head into
'Bysance'.
A small room with seating area. It was now around 8 at
night, and we headed for 'Le Cellier' to find a
room that we could set up hammock points. 'Le Cellier', or Cellar, was
the basement of a brewery above were the kegs or beer and bottles of
wine were stored.
Its a large cellar with lots of thick pillars to support the buildings
on the surface. Graffiti and mureals are everywhere, and a large
seating and table area are arranged under one the supporting arches.
Our sleeping room was a nice small room, but lack hammock points. OT
had bought pitons and bolts so we could set up the hammocks anywhere,
this was a bonus. Sleeping in hammocks with a sleeping bag is a lot
more comfy then then on hard rock or floor, also the stone saps your
body heat away instantly leaving you
freezing all night.
A few beers and a meal and we went to sleep. Only woken for a moment in
the night by other Cataphiles hoping to use the room themselves.
Waking up late, we had breakfast packed up our stuff and left the room
at midday. The time was not really an issue as there is no day or
night, your body
adjusts to a natural rythym rather then one dictated by time.
We headed north, then along Rue de Alisea, to Ossa Arida (tombstones).
2 tombstones lean against a wall, all inscribed and just dumped in the
tunnel from
a nearby cemetary, presumable from when the bones were moved.
Carried on East along Rue De Alesia, then north passed the 'Skating
Rink' named because of the inability to stand up in this tunnel becuase
of the verylow tunnel and soft wet clay.
Passed
the 'X room' and 'Zogotunga Room' both small featureless rooms.
The next area was interesting. another old brewery, this time through a
breach gave access to all the old vats and storage containers were the
beers were made.
About ten huge vats on 2 levels. Not sure if the brewery still exists
above ground but the vats are cut off from the surface and juried and
forgotton.
After the brewery we walk through 'The Circle' , a small circular
seating area built in a passageway.
North along Rue Dareau, then West along Boulevard Saint Jacques, we
stopped at the 'Bookshop'. A room where people have left books, also an
inscription of
'Librairie' on the wall. Some books, someone had set fire too, we
tidied it up and layed out the books that hadnt been burnt.
Further along at the crossroads we turned south to the 'Class
Galleries'. Mureals on the wall started in 1992 by the students of the
nearby Mine School.
The most recent painted only a few months ago by the graduating class,
but dated by the year they started.
At the end of the gallery is a dead end , so we turn about and head
north into a 'Minerology Office'. A stairway built in the middle of the
room used to display samples of rocks, each step numbered with a chart
on the stairs naming the rocks. Unsure whether this display was todo
with marketing the rocks
types available for sale or not, or just if it was just for show.
Just passed the office is the 'White Hand Room', unsure at first why it
is called this but after heading into the sublevel of this passage,
right at the end
is a small white hand drawn on the wall.
Back into the main passageway, we take the next right at the junction
then right again, so we are heading south again. The we use 'Santes
staircase' to go
down into a sub level where we find the 'Trolls Room'. A room with
troll carvings.
Back up the stairs and continue south, the passageway slopes down into
a sublevel, passing 'Dragon Room' a small room with an intricate
carving of a dragon on the wall.
'Iron Ladder' brings you back up to normal level.
The next room is the 'Human Bomb Room' A mureal of the man or strapped
bombs to himself and tried to blow up a school of children
Why there is a memorial to him i dont know.
The room is also full of old cds. The floor level
has also been raised by a huge injection of black concrete, done by the
authorities to help shore up a weak area, to prevent collapse or to
allow more building work on the surface.
There are many areas around the network where modern conrete piles and
supports are placed as the old catacombs struggle to hold up the huge
city above.
This passageway is very low and long, and becomes a bag drag and you
can stoop low enough with the bag still on your back, using any area of
height within the passage to stand and strech the back, before stooping
down again.
We make our way further south to 'KCP' and 'BDM' (Bout de Monde - End
of the World). This area is all low ceilings, it becomes depressing and
really frustrating and it seems never ending.
Some carvings on the walls and small features, which i had seen on my
last visit, but we came here looking for sleeping areas, the rooms
werent really suitable for sleeping and it was still early afternoon.
So we decided to have a look at 'Iron Door' just further down the
passage, then back to the stash bags, which would take about an hour,
then follow the main cable run, which houses all the old telecoms
cables up to the 'Py Room'
which would take maybe hour and a half to get to.
This had been suggested by Rug as a good sleepin area.
Having picked up the stash bags our bags were back up to full weight
again, slowly getting lighter as we ate our food. Both very tired, we
concentrate on getting to the 'Py Room'.
Following the cable run the tunnels just about high enough to stand
completely straight, sometime just having to
bend your neck in parts.
Although having the luxary of standing up straight, we had
the problem of the cables and cable holders taking up most of the
passage and squeezing past them every metre.
Close to the 'Py room' we pass the 'Official Catacombs' that is open to
the public, behind a metal door, you can here the plant gear power
there lighting and air con.
At the 'Py Room' there were 2 hammock points so OT fits a bolt point to
be able to get another hammock in.
This room is small but perfect. Light a lot of teacandles to save on
headtorch batteries, a few beers and some food and while listening to
Cuban Jazz music drift off to sleep.
In the night you can hear other groups of Cataphile explorers in he
network with there music.
Another midday start, we wake, have breakfast and tidy the room as we
found it and head off.
Heading for the Ossuary in the West. we start with sublevels around the
ossuary, there seems to be some discrepencies in the sublelvel mapping,
but we find our way around and come back out on the main level to the
'Feast Room' a large area
with a bar area, the seating seems to be work in progress.
We had planned to cover the far west of the network today and meet Rug
at Montparnasse at midnight, but we would have been about 8 hours
early. So we changed the plan and cut across to the east passed
'Raspial Crossroads' towards the 'Pharmacy Shelter' and 'German Bunker'
used by the Germans in World war 2, to fight against the French
Resistence.
The bunker stil have the remains of toilets, German written signs and
steel blast doors.
Just to the south of the 'Pharmacy Shelter' is the Carthusian Monks
Fountain used to measure the water table level in 1819.
Next we moved on to St Michel Stairwell so OT could make a phone call
to check in and double check the meeting place with Rug.
We continued further West to wards 'Salle Z' a large underground area
with massive
arches.
We stopped here for a rest and some food.
We retrace our steps back to the main passage of Rue Saint Jacques head
south to the next juction to see the 'Feuillantines Shelter' another
huge secound world war shelter. still a few signs of lighting and plant
equipment and toilets.
Continue south on Rue Saint Jacques and west onto Boulevard de Port
Royal. we head for the 'Cube Room', which requires a long tight crawl
to get to.
Peferctly square blocks of stone, just left in the quarry. Hericart de
Thuy also built a 'fountain' in this room , to measure the water level,
although this one has become more of a rubbish bin.
We turn off onto Rue Notre Dame des Champs, to the faco shelter, a
small secound world war anti aircraft shelter. Carried on the same
passageway and headed for the 'Rats Bar' a small room with a couple of
paintings and 4 seats.
Time was getting on so we headed back far west to finish the section we
originally planned.
Back over Raspial Crossroads and onto Falguiere Place.
This far west triangular loop show one small section of low, so would
take long to walk all the way round checking for rooms. In reality the
whole route was one continuous journey into hell.
Tight low crawls and
stooping and water.
This was a major strain on the body especially and we were nearing end
of day 3.
Muslces in my back and neck were on the verge of snapping, pure
torture. Getting back to Falguiere Place meant we could finally stand
up and straighten our backs.
A small rest and we ploughed on through Rue Falguiere northwards, we
found a small old service tunnel were we just collapsed in tiredness
and slept on concrete slabs for an hour.
It was approaching 11, so we headed for our meeting at 'Montparnasse
Shelter' where we were meeting Rug. We pass the 'Flag Room', a high
ceiling vaulted chamber, with another white enamel plaque, and 2 french
flags.
Further along we go through the remains of an iron door, presumably
from the shelter, we head up some flight of stairs to the surface level
where civilians would have entered.
We go back down and look around the
shelter and check out all the rooms and out the other end into other
passages.
OT goes back to stairs to take more photos while i wait for Rug in one
room with a mattress on the floor to sit on.
I hear voices and think
Rug is coming, but it is 3 other French Explorers who stop for a chat and
a beer then continue on there way further south of the network.
Finally Rug arrives with the friend from the pub and we have a few beers and
his friends leaves. Its now 2 in the morning, we are extremely tired and we had
had a few beers.
Lying right there on the floor would have been
perfect, but Rug had other ideas, he drags us back down south at a fast pace
crawling and stooping along. Me and OT on the verge of heart failure.
We head for the Carthusian Monks Quarry, the oldest part of the GRS.
Something we forgot to see when we were in the area earlier.,br>
We pass
the bent pillar, a supporting pillar of stone that has fallen over
but remain intact leant against a wall.
In the Monks quarry we see the old working face on the quarry, worked
masonry for windows or door surrounds, but never taken out the quarry
and the arched tunnel that Philibert made to try and find the treasure
of the monks. He is seen as the first explorer of the Catacombs.
His light failed when he was in the quarry and could not get out, he
died in the catacombs.
After leaving the Monks Quarry, we hear voices from 'Apero's Room',
other cataphiles and sitting drinking, we join them for a while before
heading off to Ansluce to set up hammocks and sleep for the night, but
already there.
We set up hammocks but continue drinking and chatting
with them until 6 am, when Rug departs and we finally get some sleep.
We wake up at midday again. Completely exhausted. Not a single bit of
energy left in our bodies, and only bottles of water left.
We start the long treck south, remembering to pick up the stash bag on
the way, it would be 2 hours of agony before we would eventually see
daylight for the first time in 4 days.
We had done it.
4 Days in the Catacombs, even the french explorers
could not believe we had done it. Insane.
It was a major achievement, but the tiredness and exhaustion meant all i could
think of was food. A slice of pizza at a local shop suppressed the
hunger enough for us to get back to Gare De Nord to shower, change and
have a full meal.
Back on the eurostar to England i slept all the way.
Then we caught the bus to Paulo999's house where were stayed for the night , but
there was no sleep until we had a few beers and told our story to
Paulo.
Thanks to OT for making it a great trip, Rug and friend for beers and
monkey brain, and Paulo for sleep and beer.
Never again will i do 4 days underground again, but will be back to the
Catas for 'normal trips' soon.