In Paris, there are so many places worth seeing. We’ve seen them on postcards and Facebook posts. But out of all the places I’ve loved in Paris, the Catacombs are my favorite.
We started out early in the morning to get in line for the Catacombs, because they are limited to the amount of people who can enter down the scary descent into the underworld of Paris. The two days prior, we got there too late.The paths you follow once underground are narrow and poorly lit. 
But below ground, you encounter the bones of thousands of Parisians from centuries before. Once the city decided that it’s expansion was going to require the removal of a cemetery, they moved the bones to a single location, then on the outskirts of town but now still deep in the city itself.
The overwhelming thought crossing my mind as I wandered the cave of bones was that “we are all one”. The differences in skin, speech, and thought all vanish as you look into the eyes of those that were born, lived and died in this city so long ago. Who was that person? What did they think, eat, drink, love, laugh and work? Were they hated or loved by their fellow Parisians. In the end, they simply joined all the others of their day here. Their lesson is plain. Live all you can now, this is your future.
Happy Halloween!
The Team from Rainshadow Journal.
Photos by Al Bergstein. All rights reserved.
