Footnotes from the Dancefloor #5

Welcome to the series where I share memorable moments from late nights on the dance floor that are too good to forget.

I know people liberally throw around words like “underground” and “rave” but I’m happy to say that these footnotes come from a rave where I literally climbed down a ladder into the Paris underground.

Imagine something like this:

And I’ve come to the conclusion that

If I could replace all of my clubbing with raving, I’d be a happy girl.

Not because there’s not good music above ground in Paris, but because I’m tired of the controlling restrictions.

Overbearing security with a power complex that doesn’t care about the safety of the people. Sound limiters to avoid noise complaints on questionable sound systems in the first place.

I’ve never liked being told what to do so it’s only fitting that this is the crowd I’m most drawn to. I want to be surrounded by people who care about music and dance and less about how they look and who they’ll see.

The fact that partying like this is frowned upon is annoying, but it also adds to the fun.

You never know what could happen.

You have to be mentally ready to flee at any moment, just in case.

Following coordinates feels like a treasure hunt, and I love that sh*t.

I rolled into this party the other night in swish swish jogging pants and an old, thrifted sweater, and I felt so comfortable. I felt accepted amongst the mix of attires, and it reminded me that this is how it’s meant to be.

Side note: Dressing comfortably while partying really helped build my confidence when I would party/travel solo. The feeling that you have in the clothes you wear is amplified, and it’s part of the reason why it’s been so easy to make friends anywhere in the world. If you’ve been wanting to travel solo more, and feel confident doing it, these are the kinds of things I talk about in my book How to Save Money & Build Confidence to Travel Solo.

The other night I chatted with someone about how cool the spot was which led to another lesson on the Paris catacombs.

It was how a tourist usually hears about it. There’s a museum where you can pay and walk around some skulls and see where the French were burying the dead underground.

I went to the museum with an ex-friend and her girlfriend, and I wasn’t impressed. I’m not into death like that, but they were so excited to go, so I went. (That was back when I was deep in my people pleasing era.)

Then as time went on, I met the Frenchman, and he told me about the real catacombs. Where people follow maps with headlamps and explore and have parties and bbqs. It’s literally a community of people opting to spend time in the dark and dusty underground.

When I first heard about the parties I was intrigued, but hesitant at the same time.

It was difficult to imagine, and after I discovered my fear of the dark while solo hiking in a cave in the middle of Arizona in 2022, I didn’t know if I was up for it.

This was around the time I also learned about free parties: people partying without the restrictions of the law in often remote places to not bother the non-partying public.

And they’re all over France, not just Paris.

When I first heard about free parties, I knew it was where I wanted to be. It was only a matter of aligned timing.

So when the opportunity came to go underground, I couldn’t resist.

Side note: The more I learn about French politics and police violence, the more I’m concerned about what kind of life we can have here. There are reports (in French, ofc) of police violently attacking ravers at free parties to the point that two were shot recently in Bretagne.

The first party was amazing, impressive, and extremely dusty.

Like so dusty1 that I had to go home because my throat hurt, and when I blew my nose, it was black. Yes. Black.

This tells you everything you need to know about the air quality:

After that I met a woman at a picnic with Under the Umbrella (a multilingual open mic in Paris that I love), and she told me about her boyfriend who loves the catacombs. A true cataphile who wants to be initiated into the community by being taken underground without a map and finding his way out. A rite of passage apparently.

I was shocked.

It sounded like a nightmare.

Especially since I’ve often heard things like,

You have to be careful down there, it’s dangerous.

There are weird things happening down there.

People get lost.

Supposedly there’s a special police team to help people down there too.

This is all the backstory leading up to new revelations from the other night.

Like how there are people who LIVE there for days in a row, for fun. I had to ask multiple times to make sure I understood because I couldn’t fathom it.

There’s also art and a massive rave once a year with hundreds of artists and all I could think was HOW?!

I will always be impressed by people coming together for the love of art and music, and I’m excited to see where future adventures take me.

Thanks for reading <3

Til next time,

Watch the vlog from my first experience partying in the Catacombs on YouTube! I’ve been having more fun with editing lately, and I would love to know what you think.

- Bree