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Days of the Dead

We left Versailles early this morning (never really know about traffic) and got to the Paris flat by 8:15am. At 9:00am we were met by the owner and after an orientation and fixing some Wi-Fi issues, we were off on our first day in Paris (after a visit to the local supermarket).

Despite all of the pre-trip planning, once you get to the city, it seems to throw you off. So instead of following a particular preplanned walking tour, you find yourself chasing dead people. We ended up in three cemeteries, one ossuary, and a necropolis.

Royal tombs at Saint Denis in Paris, France.
Royal tombs at Saint Denis in Paris, France. (Photo by Dan Owen)

Our first stop was St. Denis Cathedral. This is the historic necropolis of the French monarchy. The first king, Clovis, is buried here as well as Saint Denis, patron saint. The original crypt dates back to 400. With the exception of two or three kings, every French king is buried here. Well, sort of. During the French Revolution, the revolutionaries suggested to the citizens that they destroy anything having to do with the monarchy. So beginning in 1793, the destruction began. One of the beneficiaries of these misguided actions were the remains of the kings and their families in St. Denis. The crypts and coffins were opened and the remains were either thrown into a large pit or the river. Not to despair because the bones were retrieved after the Revolution. Unfortunately, no one knew whom he or she belonged to. So they just gathered them all up and buried them behind a wall.

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Where Did They Put the Guillotine?

Execution of Louis XVI. Engraving (unknown: mid-19th century). Author's collection.

In the spring of 1965, a young boy, aged ten, stood on the Place de la Concorde in Paris and looked around at this giant space that now contained an Egyptian obelisk, two big fountains and swirling mass of automobiles going around in a circle.

He was trying to imagine what this site might have looked like in 1789 and throughout the French Revolution and the period of time known as “The Terror”. He knew that this was the place where the guillotine had been erected and many people, including the king and queen of France, had been executed.

As he stood there with his parents, he asked a very simple question; “Where did they put the guillotine?” No one knew the answer. Read More Where Did They Put the Guillotine?