"Paris Catacombs: Where Life Meets Death" by Dreamer-Catdragon | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm making this record as a warning to all who may come across it. Never, never attempt to enter the

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: catacombs of Paris through secret passages that lie hidden beneath the streets of the city.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: For within those dark and winding tunnels, there is something inexplicable and evil that resides

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: the forbidden tunnels lurking beneath the city of light. First, I would like to point out that the

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: people I will mention here have had their names changed with the intention of protecting their

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: memories and their identities. I hope that my decision is understood and respected by all.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: With that in mind, I will now begin the account of my Paris catacomb experience

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: that forever marked my life.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Like any other young person my age, I was very adventurous and loved exploring unknown places,

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: always looking for thrills and challenges. My parents were always very strict with me,

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: forbidding me to go to places they considered inappropriate like parties and going out with

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: friends. I felt trapped, like I was being deprived of experiencing the outside world

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: like other young people, which only fueled even more the desire to venture outside the limits

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: imposed on me. Like any other young person my age, I became rebellious. I lied to my parents

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: that I was going somewhere, but I was breaking into an abandoned house or exploring some tunnel

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: or underground cave with my friends who shared the same interests.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But that wasn't enough. I wanted to go further, see new things, and feel more of that butterflies

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: in my stomach that only adventure can provide. That's why, when my friend Zach called me and

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: said he'd discovered a location on an unsealed sewer entrance to the catacombs of Paris,

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I was all for it. If you've never heard of this place or have only a brief acquaintance,

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the Paris Catacombs are a gigantic underground network of tunnels and galleries that extend

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: for about 300 kilometers under the city of Paris, France. The catacombs, originally built as quarries

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: around the 18th century, were turned into public ossuaries in the late 18th century

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and are currently visited by tourists as a historical and cultural attraction.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The catacombs contain the remains of millions of Parisians who were moved there after the

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: city's cemeteries closed. Due to their age and fragility, the catacombs have strict access

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: rules to protect cultural heritage and the safety of visitors. In addition, the catacombs are a

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: real underground labyrinth. It's not difficult to get lost in there.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: For these reasons, visits are highly regulated and controlled. Entering the Paris Catacombs

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: beyond the permitted areas for visitation was strictly prohibited. Violating this rule could

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: result in fines and other legal penalties. I should have stopped there, but at that time,

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: all my rebellious mind had in my head was, everything forbidden tasted better.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: We called another friend, Sebastian, and started planning everything. When are we going,

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: what would we take, and how would we not get lost? The last one was solved by Zach.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: We would use luminescent paints. And, yes, when I look back, I realize how stupid this all was

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: from the start. I don't remember what lie I told my parents, but they believed it, and I was able

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: to meet my two friends without any problem. Entering the catacombs of Paris through a

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: secret entrance in the sewers was always going to be the adventure of a lifetime.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I was very excited and looking forward to this adventure so different from the ones I've done

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: before. Zach led the way. He took us down to the sewer where the entrance to the ossuary is said

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to be. It took us about twenty minutes to find that entrance, because Zach actually didn't know

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: the location at all, he just heard a rumor that there was an entrance here.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: The entrance was narrow and dark, with only a shaft of light coming in through the crack at

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: the top. Zach was the first to enter, followed by me and Sebastian. We managed to smell the strong

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and unpleasant smell of sewage in our nostrils, but that didn't stop us from moving forward.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It was then that we saw a steep staircase leading even deeper. We walked down the stairs cautiously,

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: carefully watching each step we took. The sound of water running through the pipes echoed

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout the place, but that didn't bother me. After all, I was focused on finding something

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: new. We arrived in a huge underground room with dirty, damp walls and a slippery floor.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: The flashlights we carried illuminated only a small part of the room,

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and the surrounding darkness made it even more frightening.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: At first I wasn't sure if we were entering the ossuary or if it was just one of the sewer

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: corridors, but then our flashlight beams began to reveal a few bones here and there, until an

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: entire wall adored with bones and human skulls gave us a macabre welcome.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: As we made our way deeper into the catacombs, the air grew stale and musty. The damp walls

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: seemed to close in around us, and the darkness was all-consuming, but instead of feeling afraid,

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: we felt like those brave YouTubers with channels aimed at urban explorers who enter forbidden

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: places like this. And that was amazing. The Paris Catacomb was an incredible gallery of macabre art.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It was impossible to deny the morbid beauty of that place. The walls were lined with stacked

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: skulls and human bones, forming grotesque and frightening images.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't help feeling that I was being watched through the hollow eyes of hundreds of skulls.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I grabbed my cell phone and started filming around, capturing every detail of the historic

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: structures, until an eerie sound echoed through the dark tunnels.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Everything was silent until Zack said,

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Relax, you pussies. It must have been just a car passing overhead.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: He emphasized his statement by pointing to the ceiling above us.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We relaxed after that. Zack's words made sense. We were somewhere under the city,

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: there couldn't be anything here. The sound could only have come from the surface.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: As time went on, my earlier enthusiasm was turning into another feeling which I refused to show to

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: my friends as I didn't want to tarnish my facade of a great and courageous adventurer, but I

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: couldn't deny that little voice telling me something was wrong was getting louder.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Filming Sebastian walking side by side to a wall full of piled up human bones as he said,

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Look at this! This is so cool! helped me to recover a little, until I noticed

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Zack enter a different corridor and move further and further away.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Zack, don't go wandering around aimlessly. You know it's easy to get lost around here.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I shouted, but Zack just responded with his typical arrogance.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Easy, mom. I just want to take a look around these halls. Before you know, I'll be back.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I rolled my eyes and continued filming Sebastian.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I was used to Zack's habit of drifting away from the group and somehow never getting lost.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It was from that point on that our adventure turned into a nightmare.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Suddenly, Zack screamed from one of the hallways, causing me and Sebastian to turn around in alarm.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I shouted his name and shined the flashlight on all the corridor's entrances nearby, but

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't find him. Then sounds like bones creaking and clinking echoed through the

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_00]: galleries, making my blood run cold. Zack, this isn't funny, you bastard!

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I yelled loud as I shined every entrance I could see, believing Zack was purposely

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to scare us. And then I realized that Sebastian was frozen, looking with eyes filled

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: with utter terror in my direction. More specifically, behind me.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I heard a low, inhuman snarl. Slow and terrified, I turned around.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The flashlight shook in my hands, but I kept the grip as tight as I could

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: to illuminate whatever was behind me. I had explored many unknown places in my life.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw so many things, so many stories to tell. But never, never had I ever seen anything like it

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: before. Before me was a creature that could only be described as something resembling a

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_00]: giant centipede, made up mostly of several bones of various widths and thicknesses,

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and what appeared to be exposed tendons and muscles. In place of its head was a massive

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: human skull, with large, sharp teeth stained red, whose origin I refused to believe.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_00]: That gigantic thing moved slowly, with its many twisted legs towards us,

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_00]: staring at us with large, empty eye sockets as it rose with the front part of its long body

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: until it surpassed our height and almost touched the ceiling. For a moment, we simply stared,

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_00]: unable to believe what we were seeing, until the grotesque creature released a high-pitched

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_00]: screeching sound that made us shiver to the bone. We ran without looking back, trying to keep a

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_00]: strong and steady pace following the luminous paint that Zach used to mark the way to the exit.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But it was when we heard the creature's heavy footsteps and its jaws grinding that the

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: adrenaline took over our body. I dropped the backpack to get rid of the weight, and Sebastian

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_00]: did the same. At some point in the panic, I lost my flashlight and cell phone too, but at that moment,

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_00]: material things didn't matter. Miraculously, I managed to make my escape to the exit,

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_00]: but when I looked back to see if that monster was still following me, I realized with horror

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that Sebastian was no longer behind me. I headed back to the entryway again, even though all my

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_00]: instincts told me not to. I screamed Sebastian's name as loud as my lungs would allow, but the

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_00]: darkness only answered me with silence. That experience changed me forever. I will never be the

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: same fearless adventurer I was before. I managed to escape with my life, but the price I paid for my

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: recklessness was high. I lost my best friends, and now I live with this bitter and deserved guilt

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: for the rest of my life.