Thursday, our final morning in Paris, we stood in line for two hours to be near the front of the line to visit the Catacombs at George's request!
It is a strange place!
Originally a quarry, this underground area became the site to bury dug up bones of six million bodies when the cemeteries were seen to be occupying too much land in the city. A century later, when stabilizing parts of the city, the mass bone yard was rediscovered. Now it's a very popular tourist destination.
When you're confronted with the seemingly endless piles of bones the number six million is reflective. Is this what the six million murdered Jews would have looked like had they been stacked at the end of the Second World War? It's easier to image the scope of it now, but perhapsit's more disturbing than ever.
Molly found the tour rather creepy, and George was fascinated, just the way a 12 year old boy should.
We waved goodbye to Paris and headed to Versailles in our little VW rental car.
We wanted our kids, somewhere along this adventure, to see absolute extravagance and we certainly succeeded at the Chateau de Versailles. We had a tour of the private chambers then joined the masses in seeing the rest of the public space. It is an overwhelming site. I visited here twenty-two years ago, but it was good to see it again. This time we saw the inside of the Opera House, which Molly and I agree was our favourite room.
The splendor and extravagance show in the buildings and the grounds is amazing: What craftsmanship, what expense... no wonder the people revolted!
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