Le Train bleu (Gare de Lyon)

Friday was our guest S's 11th birthday. He wanted to spend it visiting the catacombs. These interesting underground galleries contain the remains of over 6 million people, moved here in the early 19th century when the cemeteries within Paris were deemed insalubrious. Visitors walk 2 kilometers and see artfully arranged femurs, tibias, and sculls, plus walls engraved with excerpts of poems about death. Not very cheery, but very much in keeping with the Romantics' fascination with death and the visit helped me to understand this a bit better.

A whole other visual feast was the restaurant "Le Train bleu" where our friends invited us for dinner. We had to laugh about the miniscule vegetarian main course of steamed vegetables, but the space is spectacular. If you like the Second Empire décor of the Opéra Garnier, you shouldn't miss "Le Train bleu".

We came back to the apartment for S's birthday cake ("Le délice du chef") and let the kids stay up until midnight watching "A Very Potter Musical".