Today I wake up really early. I go to McDonalds for breakfast and wifi. One of the breakfast options is a croissant and coffee. This is what I want. This is what I try to order. No one behind the counter seemed to understand me. Pointing gets me nowhere. I get annoyed and leave. Around the corner is a Quick, which is like McDonalds only not like McDonalds. I get a coffee and croissant no problem here. They advertise WiFi. Guess what, it doesn’t work. The WiFi. Guess what else? I spilled my entire coffee all over myself. I want to cry, I really do. I go back to my room and decide that if this is what today is going to be like, then I am not going to try a combo of Versailles and Catacombs. I will go just to the Catacombs to be safe. Good thing I did since the line was way over two hours.
I walk inside and slip twice. The first time was no big deal. The second time, I now fear that the rest of my time in here will be me trying to not fall. The third time I slipped, I went to grab the wall to stop myself. Only now, we are at the skulls. So I am grabbing human skulls and bones to balance myself, it was awful.
Later on, we get to where water is dripping and the floor is now wet. I start walking like a 397 year old woman because I am deathly afraid of falling.
The Catacombs are incredible. When I look around at everyone else inside, I can’t help but wonder what thoughts they are having. These aren’t props. These are actual skeletons. These are real dead people. It will never not be amazing to me that someone can propose to create this and not be institutionalized.
Leaving the Catacombs, it is 83 steps back outside. I knew this, and 83 steps isn’t that big of a deal, right? Well they are when they are steep and spiral and narrow. I had to stop and catch my breath around step 60. Luckily the couple that was trapped behind me since the steps are too narrow for anyone to pass, were really nice about it. They were also much older so I am sure whoever was stuck behind them thought it was them causing the traffic jam, despite that they seemed absolutely physically fine at this point.
After the Catacombs, I wandered around Paris a bit taking pictures and just looking at everything. I took random breaks and sat on benches and did that thing that I love to do so much. Just look around and think of how great it feels to be so independent and to end up anywhere in the world all by myself.
By this point in my trip, I was an expert at the Metro. The Metro smells horrible. The entire system needs a power wash. I also loved the station announcements. The automated voice announces each stop two times. The first announcement was in a tone that ends in a question mark, the second in a tone that seemed to have an exclamation point at the end of it. The more syllables the station had, the funnier it was to me. St. Germain De Pres? ST. GERMAIN DE PRES! It totally sounded like there was a silent “asshole” at the end of it. St. Germain De Pres? ST GERMAIN DE PRES, ASSHOLE. At one point I started to make noises while trying to conceal my laughter. I am so twelve years old.
Bed time. The night time weather was perfect sleeping weather. It was so cold outside but in my room the fresh cool air made my sleep so perfect.