I see dead people! (and...The Lion King!)

Hear ye, Hear ye!
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I've been studying up on things to do in Paris.  Things that don't involve the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre.  Things that are slightly off the beaten path.

Well, I guess the Lion King (Le Roi Lion) isn't off the beaten path, but it does open in Paris in October 2007 at the Theatre Mogador.  Since I've already seen it twice, I am not dying to go, but if I can get last minute half price tickets, sure I'll go.  I believe it's running in English, not that it has a tonne of dialogue, anyway.

So what should a city do with a creepy underground tomb with millions of bodies in it? Make it a tourist attraction and offer guided tours, of course!

It's only 8 euros to stroll through the PArisian sewers!
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I also discovered that there is an outdoor theatre that holds Shakespeare plays at night.  The gardens are manicured according to the play.  This is the THEATRE DE VERDURE DU JARDIN SHAKESPEARE in the Eiffel Tower/Trocadéro district.  This sounds REALLY cool, and only costs 10-20 euros per ticket.

Paris has so much to do, you can stumble across an opera, a concert, a play, a lecture, or a ballet at any point in the day without even trying.  I definitely have a looong list of things to do and see and eat.

The last tour group that passed through...
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BUT the coolest thing I discovered is the catcombs!

The catacombs are a maze that runs under the streets of Paris, 300 kilometres long and hundreds of feet below street level.  Apparently, during the 18th century, several cemetaries were dumped into the catacombs and there are millions of skeletons there.

So what should a city do with a creepy underground tomb with millions of bodies in it?  Make it a tourist attraction and offer guided tours, of course!  Entrance is in the 14th arrondissement and costs about 8 euros.  You have to go down a lot of stairs (and then climb back up at a differnt point).

When you're strange, people remember your name.
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I went to a place in Rome with a similar idea - a bunch of skeletons of monks in an ancient monestary.  VERY creepy.  Security is tight so don't try to steal any of the bones!

Speaking of creepy, here is a video clip about the catacombs (warning, VERY VERY creepy, some poor dude dies down there!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNkNJU5Uj7s

I think on the same day, in keeping with the creepy, morbid theme, I'm going to visit the big cemetary - Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. There are many, many celebrity graves here, including:

• Chopin
• Jim Morrison (from The Doors)
• Edith Piaf
• Oscar Wilde

They actually have maps marking the graves of the celebrities.  Again, what do you do with a creepy cemetary that is a tribute to the dead and supposed to be a sacred burial ground?  You market it as a tourist attraction, of course! (Although admission is free.)

As you may imagine, this site attracts all sorts of odd people.  They once had to block access to a statue in the cemetary because people were continually performing lewd acts with it.  I also bet a lot of hippies go and lay around at Jim Morrison's tomb and smoke weed.  You may think I'm weird for going here, but I bet you'll check out the photos with fascination, too!

It's in the 20th arrondissement, on the east side of Paris.