A hidden history discovered

Ok, so I didn't actually discover any hidden history of the city (my title may be just the tiniest bit deceiving), but as far as my life and knowledge of this place goes, something unknown was unearthed today.


As most of you know, I am taking a Paris history/culture class here. To my great enjoyment, this course includes a series of excursions in which we explore the city. (We all get to feel extra touristy as our mob migrates from site to site with cameras the size of small children around our necks...but hey, it's worth it!).



So anyway, this afternoon was our excursion to "Roman Paris" and "Medieval Paris" on our tour wonderfully titled "Crypte and Cluny". We met at the statue of Charlemagne in front of the Notre Dame, and from there continued to the "crypte archeologique" underlying the city's streets. This amazing crypt contained the ruins and remains of Roman Paris--the city's walls and cloisters, stones, bricks, and passageways as they stood so long ago. Of course most of this part of the city is destroyed, but some of it still stands, interestingly enough, beneath the city itself! Who knew?


From here we continued on to the Cluny museum, which housed remains of the Roman baths, as well as many tapestries, sculptures, and knick knacks dating from that time. One of the coolest things we got to see were the famous Unicorn Tapestries. They are so elaborate and so beautiful!


We also stopped by an Abbey on the way through the city (the name of which I have forgotten), as well as a reconstruction of the Roman Arena.



All in all the tour took about three hours, but we saw so much!!! It was incredible. It was good for me to walk around the city again too. It's far too easy to fall into a routine here with schoolwork and everything, and to think of yourself just as living in a city, rather than one of the most beautiful and enriching places in the world!


I hope to do some more exploring and adventures tomorrow, and hope to write again soon!

A bientot!(: