PARIS

Paris is not all chic shopping, smart
boulevards and supermodel good looks.
Dig beneath its stylish surface and you’ll
uncover a different side to the city.
Gruesome Paris is dark, dangerous and
begging to be explored. If you dare…

THE CATACOMBS

In 1785, Paris’ cemeteries were overflowing. In order to control
disease, it was decided that skeletons should be dug up and stored
in old quarry tunnels underneath the city instead. For two years,
workers trundled back and forth with wheelbarrows, piled high with
bones and skulls. The fat of the corpses that had not rotted properly
was used to make soap and candles. Today, six or seven million
Parisians are packed in neat walls that line the Catacomb tunnels –
that’s three times more below ground than above!

IT’S A RAT’S LIFE

The only way to get under the skin of the city properly
is to roam its sewers. At Paris’ Musée des Égouts de
Paris, raw sewage flows beneath visitors’ feet as they
walk through 480m (1,575ft) of gloomy tunnels. If they’re
lucky, a rat or three might even accompany them! Locals
say that there are three rats for every Paris resident
above the ground – that makes more than six million!

CATAPHILES AND CATACOPS

Urban adventurers in Paris get a thrill from sneaking
into the 280km (174mi) of closed tunnels in the
Catacombs. They are called cataphiles , and
the police who try to stop them are catacops .
Cataphiles sneak underground through manhole
covers or underground car parks to put on
clandestine theatre performances, dinner parties,
discos and cinema showings.

MONSTERS OF
NOTRE DAME

All sorts of scary creatures
greet you on the rooftop
of Notre Dame Cathedral,
but they don’t bite. The
fantastical birds, dragons and
grimacing gargoyles are made
from stone. Each one has a
drainpipe fitted down its throat
to channel rainwater off the roof.
When this bestial menagerie was
sculpted in the 14th century, it was
believed that the creatures
would scare off demons.
Who wouldn’t get freaked
out by a beastie like the
star chimera? Called
‘Stryga’, the chimera has
wings, horns, a human
body and a menacing,
waggling tongue!

SKINNED AND STUFFED

Paris is famous for its shopping, but not many
would expect to go out and buy a stuffed fluffy
white rabbit, bird of prey or tiger dressed in
human clothing! Shoppers can do just this at
Deyrolle, a taxidermy store. The ancient art of
skinning and stuffing dead animals has been
practised here since 1831. Luckily, today
the only creatures used have died of
natural causes.

GRAVE TALK

The world’s most visited cemetery, Cimitière
de Père Lachaise, opened in Paris in 1804.
It is as big as 30 football pitches and
contains more than 70,000 graves. Lots are
eerily beautiful, decorated with carvings
and ornamentation. Many famous people
have been laid to rest here, but perhaps
one of the most haunting tombs belongs
to the little known Belgian writer, Georges
Rodenbach. A sculpture of the author
appears to clamber out of his own grave,
clasping a rose in his hand.