Conference on The Catacombs of Paris, at the Ciné-Palace in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, on Thursday 9 January at 6pm!
In this richly illustrated lecture/presentation, Gilles THOMAS will explore the little-known riches of the Parisian underground (quarries, sewers, the metro, shelters), from the Middle Ages to the end of the Second World War and the Occupation of the capital, via the 18th century, the founding period of the Parisian catacombs.
A scientist by training and an underground historian, Gilles THOMAS first made a name for himself by directing the Atlas du Paris souterrain (Parigramme, 2001, reed. 2024). Since then, he has continued to write (over 300 articles, a dozen books) or advise other authors on this subject (essays, novels, comic strips, manga). He is constantly called upon to explore the subsoils of Paris for academic work, documentaries and fiction films, and his expertise is widely recognised abroad. (Luc Besson, BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, NHK, RMC découvertes...). He was even the basement adviser for Pixar's Ratatouille, or the ‘scary movie’ As above / So below. He has won several awards for his books on the Paris region's underground: twice the Haussmann prize for the contribution of the Atlas du Paris souterrain (published by Parigramme) to our knowledge of the capital's underside; the Ève Delacroix prize from the Académie Française for Les catacombes, histoire du Paris souterrain (Le Passage / diffusion Seuil); and most recently the Grand Trophée du Fouquet's for Paris sous Paris (published by Hachette / EPA).
A scientist by training and an underground historian, Gilles THOMAS first made a name for himself by directing the Atlas du Paris souterrain (Parigramme, 2001, reed. 2024). Since then, he has continued to write (over 300 articles, a dozen books) or advise other authors on this subject (essays, novels, comic strips, manga). He is constantly called upon to explore the subsoils of Paris for academic work, documentaries and fiction films, and his expertise is widely recognised abroad. (Luc Besson, BBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, NHK, RMC découvertes...). He was even the basement adviser for Pixar's Ratatouille, or the ‘scary movie’ As above / So below. He has won several awards for his books on the Paris region's underground: twice the Haussmann prize for the contribution of the Atlas du Paris souterrain (published by Parigramme) to our knowledge of the capital's underside; the Ève Delacroix prize from the Académie Française for Les catacombes, histoire du Paris souterrain (Le Passage / diffusion Seuil); and most recently the Grand Trophée du Fouquet's for Paris sous Paris (published by Hachette / EPA).
