#nerdalert

Just a warning that the following post is probably best consumed by those who like rocks.

The stratotype  (international type/reference section) for the Lutetien stage of the Eocene Epoch (40-48 mya) is actually in the catacombs of Paris … honestly, how cool is that!?!   The middle Lutetien section was historically used as building stone in much of the Gothic monuments/buildings.  It is more generally referred to as “Paris Stone.” I will admit I took all the Notre Dame photos before I understood how they all fit in!

Cecily had no idea she was going to be hitting all of these geology hot spots!  I am calling her a GIT which is APEGA’s legal term for a geologist in training.   

Me and the type section!! The middle section “Banc de Souchet” is the Paris Stone the quarries were after

Campanile giganteum was common in the Lutetian , this is of course a cast that was strapped to the table

I just loved this sample of the Lower Lutetien because of the huge Nummulites laevigatus forams you can see on top – they are huge!

Notre Dame Cathedral is built entirely of Paris stone … including all its famous gargoyles

A Notre Dame gargoyle – you can see all of the shell fragments are raised

some amazing beautiful molds from leached gastropods

textbook gastropods molds in building stone on Notre Dame

Building stone for the Romans and later for what would become Paris, was originally mined in surface Quarries.  By the Middle Ages the quarries had moved underground.  The limestone they mined was used to build the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in the late 1100’s and most of the gothic monuments in Paris.  Beyond building stone, gypsum and chalk were also mined creating a network of tunnels over 200 km long..  About 1/10th of Paris (770ha … ~3 sections) has quarry/mine tunnels beneath it.  This mass network of unsupported mine tunnels went mostly unforgotten until the mid 18th century when some of these tunnels caved in disastrously.  Unsurprisingly, a general state of panic followed and so in 1777 Louis XVI (married to Marie Antoinette … both were beheaded during the French Revolution in 1792) created a Government department to oversee the structural integrity of the tunnels.  Some tunnels were filled in while others were reinforced with pillars and masonry. 

Map of the location of mine tunnels under paris

By the early 1700’s the main cemetery in the heart of Paris – Cimetiere des Innocents (Cemetary of Innocents) which housed most Parians since the Middle Ages was overflowing.  The Charnel Houses (surface vaults) were overfilled and there was a real health risk to the surrounding neighbourhoods. Against much public opposition, the Cemetary was closed in 1785.

The city then set out on an ambitious project of creating a Municipal Ossuary (a site to serve as the final resting place for skeletal remains) in the abandoned underground quarries.  The Catacombes were consecrated on April 7, 1786 and bones were moved from deconsecrated cemeteries until 1788 and then again from 1842-1860.  Overall over 6 million people rest in these Catacombes and are the largest underground necropolis in the world.  Shockingly, only about 1/800th of the underground quarries are used in the Ossuary.

In 1809, the idea of the Catacomes receiving visitors was brought up and so the bones were stacked into displays and there were even geology displays explaining the rocks to visitors

engavings on the reinforced pillars – 5J1847 ( 5th pillar, J is the inital of the engineer, 1847-year)

the black lines on the ceiling were used by visitors in the 1800’s to orient themselves

The entrance to the Ossuary

STOP! Here is the Empire of the Dead

After this we decided more serious faces were in order, smiling next to the displays was creepy

The bones were stacked 5 feet high and up to 80 feet deep

Each Cemetary was labelled and the year the bones were moved to the Catacombs

You can see the criss cross stacking pattern of bones

They used to keep a flame lit in this little bowl to keep the air moving underground

        
A

A little known fact about Astrid and I is that we are both born on the eleventh day, one month apart of the same year. Strangely we have several other good friends who are also born on the eleventh so we coined ourselves the “eleven sisters”. So, when we decided to go to Paris, we agreed we would celebrate our birthdays “eleven sister” style.

Our choice was a night at the Moulin Rouge. The area of Paris where the theatre sits was awash in neon lights and crowded patios – a side of Paris we had not yet seen.

The theatre was full of sparkle and completely over the top – with a crazy show, wild guests, dinner and champagne. It was exactly as you might imagine – feathers, glow in the dark sequences, men in pirate and clown costumes, and topless lip syncing. They weren’t great dancers. But really, none of that could distract from a fun birthday celebration in the City of Light.

We exited the theatre to find a wild and unruly man being carried off by police with a large black hood over his head to a nearby waiting police wagon. The crowd was spilling all around this chaos.  A fitting end to a wild show.
C

Marquee inside the historic Moulin Rouge Theatre

Astrid waiting in the lobby to be let into theatre halll

Birthday girls waiting for the show to begin

Post show silliness

While we have gotten off to a slow start with our blogging, we have certainly been busy sightseeing and have lots of stories to tell. Our flight over from Calgary was uneventful (thanks to Gravol and wine) and we have settled into our hotel, three blocks from the Arc De Triomphe.

The hotel was a recommendation from a Parisian colleague of mine and is situated in a fun, urban area. We are on the fourth floor of five, overlooking le Rue. The street is complete with a fromagiere, a butcher and a chocolatier. The decor is spectacular! #understatement

C

this wasn’t her first rodeo

the carpet made her do it…