My random adventures

Point being?

My point being that if this topic interests you - as it does me - you may find the stuff on there worth looking at.
That is all.
Sheesh! Some people...

cheers plats.

or you might find my intro useful in the FAQ of that site:

[ame="http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=35342"]Introduction to Urban Exploration by Alias - UK Urban Exploration Forums[/ame]

i noticed that nick ;)

My point being that if this topic interests you - as it does me - you may find the stuff on there worth looking at.
That is all.
Sheesh! Some people...

Sorry - I'm feeling a little on edge at the moment given recent events. Nothing to do with you or me personally, so I'm sorry for being sensitive to that.

It's just that what seems to be happening at the moment is that if something 'off-topic' gets posted, someone posts a link to a forum specifically focussing on that topic (the 'Car Appreciation' thread links to Pistonheads is a good example).

I'm personally very interested in UE, but would be a bit nervous just joining up to 28days and making a fool of myself.

Sorry for the misunderstanding - I think this is a good opportunity for those interested to get a bit more of a feel for UE before taking the plunge, or for those who are just a bit curious to find out more.

Sorry for jumping in a bit two-footed there Plats...

No worries Mooks, I'm rarely 'on-topic' tbh...

still think you should pay leicester velodrome gp [ame="http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1493"]Leicester Velodrome ARCHIVED - UK Urban Exploration Forums[/ame]

Went to Graylingwell a while back (abandoned lunatic asylum), amazing inside but freaked me out a bit

dude this is 531 awesome

an old adventure but a good one and one which I think will interest some people on here:

                                    ***The Paris Catacombs ***

Many people go to Paris on romantic weekends or tourist trips. I sat on the train feeling nervous about the trip I was about to take. I would catch the eurostar to Paris and instead of following the tourist trail would don waders and a boiler suit and embark on a trip deep into the dark depths of Paris. Into what is known as "les carrières de Paris" (the quarries of Paris) also known as "the catacombs of Paris".

During the Roman times Paris was built using the limestone found under the city and so the quarries were formed. Throughout the centuries following the Roman Empire the quarries grew and the networks of tunnels became more complicated and span an amazing 170 miles.

Then in 1786 the government under the orders of Monsieur Thiroux de Crosne, Lt. General of Police, and by Monsieur Guillaumot, Inspector General of Quarries decided that the quarries would be used as burial grounds during times of Plague and disease, where the cemeteries were filling up. Remains from the cemetery of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs were among the first to be moved. Bodies of the dead from the riots in the Place de Greve, the Hotel de Brienne, and Rue Meslee were put in the catacombs on August 28 and 29, 1788.

The Catacombs has had many uses over the years including a base for the French Resistance during the Second World War. The Germans also established a bunker in the Catacombs and it is documented that the resistance and the Germans had a mutual respect while down in the Catacombs and never fired on each other.

In 1777 the IGC, (General Inspection of the Quarries) was established. This was to combat the problems of collapse due to construction in Paris and subsidence. The IGC strengthened many of the tunnels and installed manhole entrances into the catacombs.

Entrance to the unofficial section of the catacombs is restricted and if caught people found will face a large fine and even jail. The risks involved are huge, including tight spaces, flooding and it would also be very easy for someone to get lost and die down there, it has happened.

As I sat on the train everything I had read on the Internet about the catacombs kept flashing through my head from Philibert Aspairt. Who was found 200 meters from an exit dead after getting lost down in the catacombs to the stories of all night parties and CataCops who patrol the Catacombs looking for explorers. Adrenalin pumped through my body along with fear the only word to describe my thoughts at that moment is disbelief at the task that lay ahead of me.

Arriving at Waterloo I met up with the other members of our team, Little Elvis, Zero, Calamity and our guide Paulo999 who would be taking his 4th trip into the depths of Paris. We passed through customs without a question of why we had caving equipment and were heading to Paris on a 24hour return ticket!!

As we stepped off the Eurostar after a hot couple of hours (air con was broken) my mind was buzzing. Looking around me I felt strange thinking about what was below us. We headed to the nearest restaurant to stock up on food and to use the facilities as these would be the last we saw in a while. Then onto the metro to our final stop, where we headed to a supermarche to pick up supplies.

As we left the supermarket I started to realize how heavy my rucksack was but that was not the most important thing on my mind. Stopping to kit up I felt strange but also excited, we all joked around but I could tell that everyone was nervous about what we were about to do.

Then it was time to get serious we headed to our entrance point and the adrenalin was making my heart pump the blood around my body faster every step closer I got. As we entered the darkness a calming feeling came over me and I knew there was no turning back now my mind and body just accepted that I was not going to see daylight for at least seventeen hours. Pure darkness is strangely calming and combined with silence can be overwhelming. The entrance was tight and led onto a low tunnel which I learnt to refer to as a back breaker. This tunnel then led onto a junction where we proceeded down one of the standing height tunnels observing the array of graffiti sprawled on the walls. Then Paulo999 stopped and pointed to a doorway leading off into the darkness, down here is “Le Passe de Muraille.�

“Léon, a humble civil servant, has the unusual ability to walk through walls, however thick they are. One day, he falls madly in love with a charming English cat burglar. In order to impress her he decides he should be a become a better burglar than she...�

however gets trapped while walking through the wall

Paulo999 warns us that this section is flooded and I start to realise that the 30 pounds I spent on Waders was an incredibly good purchase as we proceed to step into water which reaches my thighs. We carry on for about 200 meters through the water. flooded tunnels lead off to god knows where all the way along and numbers corresponding to the house numbers on the street above adorn the walls all the way along. At the end we are confronted with a T junction on the right is a dead end as I look left I am confronted with one of the most surreal images my head has ever had to comprehend. A statue of a man coming though the wall lit up by my head lamp is a strange sight but also a beautiful one. I got my camera and tripod out and proceeded to photograph the statue while admiring the effort it must have taken for the unknown artists to create such a beautiful piece of art. We then head back and swap waders with the others so that they can witness the Passe de Muraille.

Little Elvis and I are left alone in the dark. As we sit and start to comprehend what we are doing I decide now is the time to turn the music on. I pressed play and we sat listening to music just thinking about what on earth we were doing 70 foot below Paris on a Saturday nigh. Both I and Little Elvis have explored many places but we both agreed this was the strangest experience ever. As we sit in the darkness we hear voices but not English then out of no where comes the sound of French rock music and past us strolls a continuous line of French cataphiles (the word used to describe the community of people who explore the catacombs). Many pass with a quick Bon Soir others stop and ask what an Englishman is doing under Paris. When we explain we are explorers from England and our sole reason for visiting the city of love is to go deep under it a look of respect and acceptance passes over their faces. Finally we see the torch light of the rest of our group returning.

And off we go again heading towards the room of the Ram. I start to realise how complicated navigation would be down in the Catacombs. I am completely disorientated after only a couple of minutes with our direction changing rapidly and junction after junction all looking the same. Finally we reach the room of the ram hot and sweaty from what I can only describe as a march. As we enter the room we are confronted with a makeshift table in the center and seating around the edges. Only after sitting down and lighting candles does the room start to reveal itself to us. Sculptures of naked female bodies, mosaics of faces, and sculptures of faces and a ram adorn the walls of the room carved lovingly out of the limestone rock. We rest here and chill for about ten minutes as we re-hydrate and take photos of the room. Then the familiar sound of the French language wafts along the corridor and we know we will not be alone for long as a group of French people arrive. We exchange greeting then head off down the ever changing ever winding tunnels to our next target.

As we walked along the winding corridors I started to think about the quarry workers and how they would have worked by candle light down here and how hard it would have been. The work that was carried out by the IGC has hidden many sections of the original quarry with brick work which in itself is a stunning and at points is more interesting than the rooms with archways and ever changing styles of brickwork. We approach our next destination which is known as the room of the castle. In this room a small table sits in the middle with a chandelier hanging above it, around this are seats carved into the stone. The centre piece is a large scaled down model of a castle carved entirely of limestone. We set candles up around the room and in the castle to light it for photos. Once we have all taken our photos we go another 20 meters or so along a corridor into a room filled with plastic flowers. This is a shock to the system because the flowers look real with Ivy running down the walls. In the room is a warning sign which reads “Boston Parks and Recreation, Please Keep off the Plantings! Spring Bulbs are planted here�. This is surreal and it takes me a moment to realise that it is in English. I believe that this room was decorated by an American Cataphile.

Then off we go moving along the corridors until we reach a room decorated with a Plaque on the wall. The plaque reads:

Foxy
“A la Memoire de Decendue dans ces carrières en Octobre MCXCI Et Disparue XII Ans Apres Le III Mai MMIV�

Foxy was a photographer who was known and respected amongst the Cataphile community. She photographed nudes in the Catacombs and her pictures were famous. She died of Pancreatic cancer and as a memorial to her death a group of Cataphiles built her a room and dedicated it to her memory. I believe she would have very much liked this.

We then head along some more tunnels and I get the shock of my life as a dog comes running up to me equipped with its own torch. We turn the corner to find a room filled with French Cataphiles who we proceed to sit with and talk about exploring in France and England. Myself and the rest of our group were made to feel very welcome and even shared alcohol with our French exploring counterparts.

As we decide to depart towards what is known as the beach our new found friends lead us. We arrive to find the room filled to the brim with French people having a party. We decide that we have not got the time to stay and socialise and decide to head towards our next destination. So after a crawl we arrive at a room filled with lavish paintings and amazing carved structures, from the pillar in the centre of the room to the archway and the table that runs half the length of the room. Adorning the walls are paintings of mushrooms with large pieces of art such as Dali copies and a life size nude painting of a woman. We sit here and talk to our French friend about the more secretive sections of the catacombs and our exit.

After bidding our new found friends goodbye we head off in search of the famous burial chambers. After a couple of navigational errors we finally arrive. The entrance into the burial section is marked by the top of a human skull sitting atop a bit of rock. I have done many strange things in my life and seen some weird stuff however when confronted with no other option but to crawl in a tunnel only four foot high over human bones I found it hard. However I made myself do it and managed to distance myself from thinking about what I was actually doing. After photographing the bones it was time to leave and head towards our sleeping location for the night. “Anschluss� which is an old shelter. As we made our way towards Anschluss we came across one of the blockades put in place by officials to deter the exploration of the catacombs. We made our way another route but by this time we had been underground for almost 12 hours and tiredness was kicking in. We arrived at the access to Anschluss and climbed through a hole into the room of the Rats. During the 1980`s a group who called themselves the Rats used to explore the Catacombs. They painted this room as a dedication to their small group who still come down once or twice a year despite probably now being married with children and jobs etc…

We head towards the room we shall be sleeping for a couple of hours in which was in my opinion the nicest of all the rooms. We were honoured to share it that night with the man who has made it his business to fully refurbish the room. So far it has taken him two years and it is amazing, out of respect there is no graffiti. He has designed the room to be a social and a rest room with large seats all around and alcoves for people to sleep in. The centre piece to the room is a ladder leading 110 foot up a shaft to the surface, however the manhole cover that is at the top has now been covered with a statue (well I guess that’s one way to stop them). Here we put up our tents, yes tents. I felt surreal stringing up a tent 110 foot under the streets of Paris but at that point it seemed perfectly normal. We sat and talked to the French people who were in the room (who we had also met earlier), then decided it was time to get some rest. We got in our hammocks and covered ourselves in foil blankets then all slowly dozed off. I was awoken about an hour after that by snoring and the cold which had started to seep in. So I got up and went for a small walk. I only walked about 20 meters or so before I started to feel panicky, what would it be like to be lost down here, what if I got lost and my light failed. We had been told stories of this happening and I decided it best not to wander too far and headed back. As I arrived back in the room Paulo stirred and decided us two should go and check out his exit which he had heard about.

The Cataphiles pride themselves on finding stranger and more exciting ways to exit the catacombs. I had heard of people exiting through basements into shopping malls and shops, I had heard of people exiting onto the metro lines and into basements of car parks. I cannot reveal where we exited but I will tell you the journey there was one I shall never forget. At points we had to squeeze our bodies through holes in a super man fashion as our shoulders would not fit and we had to turn our heads to the side as the holes were not tall enough. Once me and Paulo had confirmed the exit was there and open we headed back to anschluss to grab the others and return to the exit.

Once we had walked out of the catacombs a sense of relieve and of exhaustion filled my body. My legs ached my face was dusty and what little hair I have was full of limestone bits. My clothes smelt and my body was covered in rapidly cooling sweat, my eyes hurt from the sunlight but I could not feel better. We walked into the sunlight squinting with onlookers staring some knowing exactly what we had been doing and some completely confused as to why we looked like we had just walked out of a cave in the centre of Paris. A feeling of almost superiority over the general public and smugness filled all of us as we walked towards the metro station and back home. As we walked I glanced down at a manhole cover and smiled. The catacombs have been a life experience and one I wish to repeat many times. I shall return soon, the catacombs are calling me.

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Foxy who was an acomplished photographer who photographed nudes in the catacombs has a memorial built for her by the Cataphiles after she died of pancreatic cancer.

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The many sculptures down in the catacombs

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At some points you are up to 120 feet below ground level and ladders lead up towards the surface.

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Many rooms are painted by Cataphiles in amazing patterns

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candle light is used to light the more social rooms

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During the Plague bodies were stuffed into the catacombs, these bodies have now decomposed and left piles of bones which was one of the nastiest experiences of my life but one I am glad I did.

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Some Cataphiles are more dedicated than others. here is one with a tatoo of the catacomb map on his side

hope you enjoyed that little adventure.

Nick/Alias

Loved this. I'll check out the site, as well.

wow Guerillaphoto a truly amazing experience! I remember reading articles in the 80s about parties held in the catacombes. I visited them (paid entrance etc.) with a friend in 1984. I remember her attached to me and squeezing my arm she was so scared. It is absolutely fascinating.

Parties used to take place on the roofs of Paris too, not sure if that still happens but another cool thing to do.

looks like a fun random adventure

area 531?

Fixed.

wow, Nick, that must have been a great experience. would love to do something myself.
when i was in seattle, i was told about the new city got built on top of the old one, and there is similar underground things there ( a whole city in fact) and edinbourgh too.

Presumably there are nutters who have ridden bikes around down there?

when i was in seattle, i was told about the new city got built on top of the old one, and there is similar underground things there ( a whole city in fact) and edinbourgh too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_King's_Close

PLAGUE aaaarrrgggghhh

and

think of the freaking splinters if you fall off here ! yikes

finally did some less dodgy stuff today which I can actually show people on public forums:

Brighton Astoria Bingo
anyway enjoy the pics:

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classic chair shot:

thanks for looking
Alias

3 crackers there man, all good but three standout gems!

man. too nice!
mike giant tagged the catacombs in paris. somewhere on fecal face.
love your stuff GP.

Fun night was had exploring this disused train tunnel. However night was cut short of further shenanigans when I impaled my hand on a nail.

anyway on with the pics (excuse the quality as I left my camera on ISO 500:

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and our final destination:

after it had sealed back together, later to be re opened by the doctor and glued up.

Alias

i am you fan GP

Guerillaphoto

really cool pix ! thank you for sharing.

i used to know Whittles grandson

I can't remember on what forum it was on but about a year ago someone got into the rover plant and the photo's where amazing of the half made cars, parts and stacks of other bits and pieces, ghost town.