Catacombs and Space invaders – Paris beyond the Eiffel tower

Are you a young (or young-at-heart), hip traveller keen to explore the sights of Paris and have a little fun, but can’t find anything in the guidebooks that features unconventional attractions and youthful things to do? Everyone knows to go and see the the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, but if you’re too lazy to queue up for the Louvre and not fussed about Notre Dame, here are some cool suggestions for the adventurous spirits among you;

Paris Catacombs

If you’re into spine-chilling sights and a spooky atmosphere, visit the Catacombes de Paris that run deep under the city streets. After a winding staircase of over 100 steps, you enter a small passage that twists and turn, with only the intermittent sound of dripping water to keep you company. This subterranean ossuary is home to the remains of over 6 million people, whose skulls and bones line the sides of the latter part of the underground passage. The atmosphere and mood of the catacombs is truly something else; it’s incredible to experience this well-preserved cemetery that exists right beneath your feet!

Space Invaders Urban Art

Remember the Space Invaders arcade game that was made popular in the 80s? The game features recognisable pixelated aliens, that have been ‘invading’ Paris since 1998.These cute and colourful creatures can be spotted on buildings around the city and are a lot of fun to find. The artist, Invader, has made it his life’s work to arrange mosaics of the Space Invaders all over Paris (and many other cities) with maps and clues on where to find them. If you don’t have time to hunt for them, you can always download or purchase an Invader map, showing you exactly where each 8-bit alien is hiding.

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Another famous Parisian cemetery is the Père Lachaise, where you can kiss Oscar Wilde’s tomb or play a song for Jim Morrisson and Frèdèric Chopin.This massive graveyard is the final resting place to a vast array of French and international personalities, from influential writers like de Balzac and Proust, to artists, architects, and aristocrats from Russia, the U.S., Poland, and elsewhere. Here you can visit the largest number of celebrities and historical figures in one place.

Where To Hang Out

Paris is divided into 20 districts or arrondissement that wind like the patterns on a snail’s shell around the city. Instead of ending up in the posh and overpriced 16th or touristy 7th, head to the Latin Quarter in the 5th and 6th and Le Marais stretching across the 3rd and 4th. Here you can find affordable accommodation and restaurants, great cafes and bars, artists, writers and even some Space Invaders. Both areas are known for their hip vibe and easy-going atmosphere and boast a vibrant nightlife once the sun goes down.

Get the info on these cool things to do in Paris

Catacombes de Paris
Père Lachaise
Space Invaders Urban Art

More things to enjoy in Paris

The Eiffel Tower – Icon of Paris or tourist trap?
Time to start planning your family autumn break in Paris
Our supercalifragilistic day at the Magical kingdom of Disneyland Paris

Photo credits: Paris catacombs by seangraham, Père Lachaise Cemetery by Mark Turner, Rue de Seine by mariurupe, and Le Marais by drewleavy

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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A monument to the Peseta – in Fuengirola, Spain

As we were wandering along the seafront at Fuengirola in Spain after our lunch at the Chiringuito, I noticed this sculpture and asking our friends about it was told that it was a monument to the peseta. Of course the peseta was the currency of Spain for over a hundred years until it was replaced by the euro in 2002 and I can vaguely remember those pre-euro days when you had to change money at every border.

It doesn’t seem strange to me that a country might be nostalgic enough about their currency to create a sculpture commemorating it. Money is what we grow up with, what our parents send us to the corner shop with to buy a loaf of bread, or give us pocket money to buy sweets on a Saturday morning, or what we count with in our maths lessons at school. From childhood our currency is ingrained into our thinking. When the currency changes, we have to find a different way of counting and of thinking.

I know from my sister who lives in Greece that the coming of the euro was widely experienced as bad news as it was accompanied by inexplicable price rises. No-one seemed to know whether prices just being ’rounded up’ in the new currency or whether unscrupulous shop-keepers were taking advantage of confusion over the exchange rate, but it did seem that overnight everyday items seemed to cost a little more. Only natural then, that one might hark back to the ‘good old days’ of the Peseta or the Franc or the Drachma.

Of course for travellers it’s mighty convenient that you can travel throughout the euro-zone with a single currency and only one type of coins to set aside in a drawer when you come home. Do you live in a country that changed it’s currency to the Euro and did it change things for you?

Compare prices and book hotels near Fuengirola with Hotels Combined

This article is posted as part of Photo Friday, hosted at Delicious Baby – head over to see all the other Friday photos here

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Other Spanish sojourns to savour

Seafood on the beach at the Chiringuito in Spain
08 Valencia in the Springtime – podcast
The City of Arts and Sciences – in Valencia

www.flickr.com   heatheronhertravels’ Spain – Malaga photoset

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Pavement poetry in Manchester

You may have realised that I like a bit of street-art but pavement art is a little more unusual to find. It’s easy to miss what’s beneath your feet, being trodden on, walked over, hurried past.

But what about this little poem I looked down and saw when walking around the Northern Quarter of Manchester recently - Perhaps these pavement cracks are the places where flattened flags lie as solidified waves? Very cryptic indeed and I couldn’t find it as a poem when I googled it so I assume that it’s entirely created by whoever installed it. Glad to see the road repair men worked their tarmac around it!

And staying on the pavements but straying a little further afield, you may enjoy this little face carved into a kerb stone, one of several that I walked over in the town of Nuoro in Sardinia – read the story about these cool kerbstones in Nuoro here

And just to leave you with a piece of passing poetry that’s made to fit it’s surroundings, how about this one in my home town of Bristol on the cafe window at Blaize castle – Light on leaves, a bird’s dark wing, what you see depends on the glass you look through. You can read about our walk from Blaise Castle to Kingsweston for tea here.

Do you have any pavement art on a street near you?

I was invited to get creative in Manchester by Creativetourist.com who celebrate the creativity, exhibitions and museums of Manchester – check out their website for more creative inspiration and you can find the Urban Culture Trail that took me round the Northern Quarter on the Visit Manchester site here

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Other Manchester articles to enjoy

Leonardo’s bicycle at MOSI in Manchester
Getting to know LS Lowry at The Lowry in Manchesterr
Steak and Seafood at the Grill on the Alley in Manchester

 

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Manchester photoset

 

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