I think i touched a cloud...

The final explore of what was an exhausting weekend. After a brilliant trip this was the perfect way to finish. The building currently stands at 187 meters high, with the crane towering over the building, i am unsure at to the total height probably around 670-700ft but either way its the biggest structure i would have climbed.

As the Sgt had already climbed this building before and adding the fact it was 4am, we said our goodbyes and i headed on solo. Once over the fence i headed towards the building and up. By the time i got to level 25 i was exhausted. I needed to rest, but as i only had 1 hour to be in and out before the builders arrived i pushed on.

Lucky for me there was a gangway across to the crane near the top of the building so i didn't have to climb from scratch which was a welcome change. All was going well until the crane cleared the protection of the roof, then the wind hit.

I'm not the greatest person with heights, yea ill do them but i get the shakes easily so the last 10 levels of so took longer, but i eventually hit the hatch. As i looked up there was a chain across the hatch and i had the sinking feeling it was going to be locked. Luckily it was just wrapped around to stop the hatches banging. With one final push i was on the jib and began to take pictures.

The view was amazing. Although Paris is a fairly low set city, the majority of La Defense is high rise. Much like the city district of London. On the other hand the wind made it almost impossible to get any crisp images as the crane was swaying around like a pendulum. Out of around 45 pictures i only managed to get 8 that were remotely salvageable. If i had more time i would have taken some from the building. Maybe on the next trip.

With time of the essence i headed back down and fast as i could and all was going well, i was almost out until i heard a loud bang and a series of angry sounding French nonsense. I didn't turn around to see if who it was and sprinted for the fence. I vaulted over in one, landing practically face first in a bush the other side and ran off into the night. Job done. Paris, ill see you soon!

Fire!

The first stop on the two day Paris trip. The tunnels were built by the Germans in world war II to house and store their V2 rockets and associated trains that launched them, although it is unsure if they were ever used or not. The first striking feature is easily the size. They are huge, easily the biggest underground space i have explored.

After meeting Sgt Marshall in Gare du nord, we headed down to the metro and onwards towards our first stop. A little bit of walking and climbing later and we were stood outside the entrance. A quick look left and right and we were in.

We found ourselves in a small quarry which connects to the end of the main tunnel. All we had to do was find it, which took a surprising amount of time. As we searched the quarry for the entrance we ended up going in several loops and circles, returning to the quarry entrance almost 3 times!. Out of pure chance we looked around a corner which at first glance was a dead end, but no in the distance a large arch could be seen. Bingo!.

As we drew closer then ground sloped downwards and the real size of the tunnels became clear. Along the route of the main tunnel two other tunnels fed off from the side, but we saved them for later. Instead we headed for the main entrance to the tunnels. At the end two large blast doors around 10 meters in height covered the exit with a guards post overlooking them in the roof. It was said that this entrance was also rigged with dynamite so in the event of an allied attack the guard would detonate the explosives sealing the exit.

After taking a few pictures we headed back to the first junction. A short walk on and the tunnel split in two again. The roof was something to be seen. The original quarry roofs were now supported by rows upon rows of carved arches heading off in several directions.

Sgt told me that there was another quarry to the north that had to be closed due to a large cave in some time in the 70's. We decided to have a quick look. We discovered a large web of interlinked tunnels much like a reservoir with large pillars, with tunnels spanning off into the distance in all directions. We spent a while wandering around and photographing the remaining features of the quarry before finally heading back to the entrance, and off to our next adventure.

Take a ride....

No trip to Paris would be complete without a venture down into its massive train network. Although we didn't spend as much time in them as i would have liked too, it still gave me a little preview of what its like and set me up for next time.

The Paris network it very different to the one we have here in London, The most notable difference is the size. In London if your in a tunnel and a train comes thats it your pretty fu****, so kiss your ass goodbye. But here the tunnels are much bigger then the trains, they have duck out points and generally have more then 1 line per tunnel. Which means they are perfect for explores!.

We visited a few different spots on different lines. As we were sitting on the side of one line i could hear a train coming. I couldn't believe just how loud they were. It was pretty scary as it kept getting louder and louder then suddenly screamed past you in a flash of blinking lights. The vacuum behind pulling you forward!. It is usually best to wait for the trains to stop running but that would mean all you'd get would be pictures of tunnels, just wouldn't be the same without a train rushing through now would it.

With comical prowess we tried to set up cameras in between the trains to avoid being seen by the drivers. Sometimes it worked but as the space in between trains was different and they ran in both directions sometimes you think you were safe just after the train went past only for its noise to have disguised that of the one coming the other way!. All in all totally enjoyable!.