Week 17: Old Olavians in Paris.

Jess and Diva came to visit! And it was a weekend punctuated by Paris' weird and wonderful...

The Catacombs

A trail through Paris' underground ossuaries, which were moved from cemeteries and packed into bone-walls to create more space in the existing cemeteries. The catacombs now house the bones of about 6 million people. Reassuringly, they have to remind the visiting public not to steal the bones...

Musee des Arts Forains

Viewing by appointment only, this private collection in the Bercy Pavillions hosts relics from 19th century funfairs. What's more, most of them are still fully functional, meaning that we went on a bicycle merry-go-round (as seen in Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris'), played on the Parisian Waiter's Derby (like a horse derby, but it's the waiters racing to serve their tables first), and a carousel. If you're in Paris and looking for something a bit out-of-the-ordinary, come here! You will be filled with glee as you are propelled around on a giant bike, the pedals of which you have lost control of.

Le Musée des Vampires

Another museum by appointment only, and continuing the weekend's theme of the wacky, the four of us spent 3 hours listening to a lecture on vampires in a shed filled with Jacques Sirgent's collection of vampire paraphernalia, as we lost all feeling in our freezing toes. We saw some crazy things: a mummified cat (taken from the Pere Lachaise cemetery), an authentic vampire slaying kit, Bram Stoker's (alleged) typewriter on which he wrote 'Dracula' and some taxidermied owls. To enter the museum, we walked down a garden path, lined with human skeletons also taken from the nearby cemetery, our guide told us proudly. Considering we'd all been somewhat worried beforehand that we might end up being murdered as we headed towards a meeting with a vampire-obsessed stranger, I guess we were lucky to come away with our lives. And some nuggets of wisdom about vampires. Did you know, for instance, the reason Mona Lisa is smiling like that? Coz she's a vampire. And most importantly, a vampire will only ever enter your house if you invite him in. So add him to the guestlist for a great dinner party conversation starter.

"Of all the things, the mask is the one thing visiting children are scared of."

Anti-vampire kit.

A few less strange things we did... 

Obligatory Eiffel Tower shot

Obligatory cheese eating

Obligatory Louvre visiting

The cultural outing proved a bit much for Diva

He found it really tough

Obligatory crepe eating

Jess feeling alarm on the metro

That awkward moment when me and Diva wore the same jumper...

...and Jess tried snails.

Love is in the air