World Trip 2002 - Paris
The
world's largest piece of art - and we're loosing 5 kilometers of it every
year. The hidden and secret Catacombs of Paris.
I made five trips into the catacombs of Paris on this world tour. Less than I would have liked, but more than I had hoped for. I had been into the official tour of the Paris Catacombs when I was 14 but these were the real Catacombs of Paris. The first trip I made into the Paris Catacombs was with my host and guide, Stonga. It was on a week end, my first week end in Paris. On our travels we ran into two groups of young explorers (called cataphiles) and later into one of Stonga's friends. It was a good trip, introducing me to the conditions found in the real Paris Catacombs and showing me some of the sights.
One of the things that really struck me about the Paris Catacombs is that put together, it appears to be one giant museum of artworks. But every year an average of five kilometers of tunnels are lost through injection, consolidations and blockages. One of the reasons I made the trip to the Paris Catacombs is that I wanted to see them now, while it was still possible to do so. In twenty years from now there may be so many parts of the Paris Catacombs lost and so many barrages in place that it may be impossible to explore the system. Already one of the best parts of the Paris Catacombs tunnel system is blocked off, open only via a very tiny and narrow crawl way.
If you plan to visit the Paris Catacombs, take a look at the maps, and read the safety advice.
The map of the Paris Catacombs below is image-mapped. Move the mouse over the map and click on bits to see sections of the Paris Catacombs that I explored.
Passages , Rooms / Bunkers , Rail tunnel
South Passage - 5 ways crossing - Acqueduct LaVanne - Bunker Faco - Avenue Leclerc - Bar of the Rats - Broussais - Cable Intersection - Cabinet Mineralogique - Carvings / Relifs - Room of the Catapult - Cynthia's Room - Carrefour de Mort (Crossroads of the Dead) - The Depot - Fountain Chasrtreux - Gallery de Promos - German Bunker - The Beach / La Plage - Laval shelter - Le Celler - Library - Multilevel Catacombs - Room of the Phantome - Railway tunnel - Round table - Rue Allesia - Rue Sarette, Middle - Rue Sarette, South - Rue Tombreiossore - Salle BAS - Salle Chateau - Salle Dragon - Small Room - Salle Marie Rose - Salle Zlard - Swamp - Tombe Philbert De Asperit - Passage1 - Passage2 - Passage3 - Passage 4 - Passage 5 - Passage 6 - Passage 7 - Passage 8
Videos.
I may eventually get around to adding information about the file size and durations of these videos of the Paris Catacombs. It depends if I decide to continue maintaining this site or not. I have to admit that the video quality of most of these videos is not all that good. I need to correct the gamma in the videos. If anyone knows of software that allows you to correct the gamma of videos as you capture the video I would appreciate it if they would let me know about the software. Alternatively, if you know software that will correct the gamma of captured videos, please also let me know.
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