Video: Riding Mountain Bikes in the Paris Catacombs

Apr 20, 2021
by COMMENCAL BIKES & SKIS  

Words: Commencal

Urban travel. A hot topic… Antoni "Dante" Villoni is maybe taking this a little too seriously!

The streets of Paris are well known to all, even perhaps the underground Catacombs, which stretch for 1.5km, but few are aware that there are nearly 300km of tunnels several metres below the 'City of Light.'

Antoni gives us a guided tour, a descent deep down into the dark depths of the capital city, or to hell…

Photography: @mathieuplt
Rider: Antoni Villoni

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Author Info:
commencal-bikes-skis avatar

Member since Sep 14, 2009
434 articles

65 Comments
  • 42 1
 crack your skull on a skull.. achievement unlocked
  • 36 0
 I went under there once. We took the metro south of town and walked down some railway tracks and then there was a hole in the ground under a bridge and next thing you know, you're under Paris. It was wild. We had a guide. Bones everywhere. Tons of art. Rooms where people party.
  • 1 0
 description sounds exactly where they enter in (good imo) horror flick As Above So Below.
  • 33 8
 Commencal seem to love filming where it is totally forbidden to ride a bike when they shoot in France. First riding on a coastal path (GR34 in Killian Bron's tour de france) then with the catacombs ahah at least they did not bring an ebike down there!
  • 4 0
 And in Parc National des Écrins in "Outdoor Synchrony"
  • 3 0
 @Etienne-H: You forgot Pont du Gard :-)
  • 28 2
 I was expecting some mutated crack heads to jump out... I’m somewhat mildly disappointed
  • 7 1
 We do not have much of those crack heads in EU. I never met in my entire live someone on crack/meth like you have there in Spain or around other cities I visited in European soil.
  • 17 1
 That's terrifying.
  • 13 0
 The left hander where the wall is shaped to allow his handlebar and elbow. *chefs kiss
  • 13 0
 Don't bring your 800mm handlebar!
  • 14 3
 is it disrespectful that I wanna make a bone kicker
  • 1 0
 You already have some, sooooooo, only if you wouldn't mind sharing some of your own Wink Then it is even
  • 6 0
 Dig up grandma
  • 9 0
 I dare to say, this is quite a new perspective.. No jumps or backflips though...
  • 10 0
 Make no bones about it, this place is cool.
  • 9 0
 there needs to be more mountain bike videos with classical music.
  • 14 0
 There needs to be more mountain bike videos riding over human bones.
  • 9 0
 Easy to get in...only a skeleton staff at the moment
  • 11 3
 The graffiti is so freaking sick. oh, and the riding, too.
  • 1 0
 HAHA the whole time I was trying to catch names and scope out spots. Get in where you fit in! Oh and ride a bike
  • 2 0
 @suspended-flesh: FC Graffiti Crew and Psykoze156 are all around the place
  • 8 0
 C'est trop cool. J'attandais un zombi pour attraper votre guidon.
  • 13 1
 wee wee
  • 4 0
 Wow, that is a cool place to ride. I saw a video of some guys exploring it once and I thought it would be cool to ride a bike in there, well now someone has done it.
  • 5 0
 Spooky!
  • 4 0
 800mm wide bars? I guess not.
  • 1 0
 Trails From the Crypt! And check out that metal thing hanging down from the ceiling in that one pic w/ the semi-berm...looks like victim material. Total metal balls on this one
  • 4 0
 Killed it.
  • 3 0
 That is super sketchy. Great riding, creepy place.
  • 2 0
 Finally this is the Grand return of sub 50cm Handlebars! See the trend! Feel the Hype!
  • 2 3
 Ok so a couple of things. Wow, I had no idea that the catacombs had become so vandalized. Yes some of it is genuine artwork, most of it though is just graffiti and a defacing of a mass burial chamber which is altogether rather sad. Do the long since dead care though? Who know's... Second, where did all of the skeletons go? I was looking for bones and skulls and such things appear to be largely absent from the catacombs. Have the catacombs been removed of human remains and transformed into nothing more than a druggy haven akin the drainage tunnels underneath Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) and presumably similar public infrastructure in other locations?
  • 2 0
 There's two different sections of the catacombs. There is a part that is full of bones, which is open to the public, and is very protected. It is all clear of graffiti. The rest of the catacombs are not open to the public, and are full of graffiti and other stuff, and are more just tunnels than actual catacombs. This was filmed in the latter area. www.thetravel.com/what-paris-caracombs-are-like
  • 3 1
 @kfccoleslaw: I find it a bit a ironic that the part open to the public is pristine and the part that is off-limits to the public is destroyed. What does that say about the general public? Thank you for that insight, very interesting!
  • 12 1
 @SuperHighBeam: If you have ever been to modern Paris..the tourist areas are pristine...the majority of the city is a shithole.Frown
  • 3 1
 @odbrider: ...been there, saw that. Can confirm.
  • 2 1
 @odbrider: Lol. That is ironic. I have not been and have little desire to visit. More likely to visit Switzerland, Germany, or Austria.
  • 1 1
 @SuperHighBeam: There are much better places in France to go to then Paris. Annecy and Lourdes are awesome.
  • 1 0
 @bbmbc: Annecy is a chic and bourgeoise city boring as hell and Lourdes, except the bike park, is a shithole for believers, its full of wheelchairs and souvenirs shops with plastic holy merchandizing made in China.
Surroundings of Lourdes and Annecy are great, especially for mountain biking, but the cities suck.
  • 1 0
 @danstonQ: Lol! Parisian boastful words! Even if you are from toulouse...
@bbmbc is right and the problem of Paris is not the city which is very beautiful but the people who live there. I was a Parisian for a long time, I'm happy to have changed region and mentality.
  • 1 0
 @FlorentLG: ce n'est pas parce que tu as changé de région que TU as changé mon gros.
  • 1 0
 @bbmbc: So I've heard. Many a French have told me there is Paris and then the rest of France and they couldn't be more different. Again ironic, since the outside world thinks Paris is representative of France...bahahahaha.
  • 1 0
 @danstonQ: You're doing a good job of building my case for not visiting France someday. I'm not sure if that was your intent though.
  • 1 0
 @SuperHighBeam: there's a french word strictly matching to your state of mind buddy: "cliché".
Work it out.
  • 2 0
 @SuperHighBeam: No it wasn't my intent at all, but you know, sometimes... I really like to tickle "ignorant" people, including the ones living around me ;-)
Come here whenever you want. I'll make you discover both spanish and french Pyrénées, spanish and french foods/moods, weeds, wines, landscapes/trails, etc.....like it or not, I don't think you're gonna hate it Wink
Cheers Bro!!!
  • 1 0
 @danstonQ: "Come here whenever you want. I'll make you discover both spanish and french Pyrénées, spanish and french foods/moods, weeds, wines, landscapes/trails, etc.....like it or not, I don't think you're gonna hate it Wink
Cheers Bro!!!" That sounds a lot more intriguing than the tourist traps of Paris.
  • 2 0
 I too, am bored & going insane in lockdown
  • 1 0
 pretty scary... was waiting for a Blair witch project to pop out...but seriously, hope he found the way back...
  • 1 0
 not what I expected. I enjoyed the graffiti. people need to express themselves and really what harm is done there?
  • 1 0
 Live footage of me binging Friday Fails vids on youtube.
  • 2 0
 WOW very nicely done
  • 1 0
 real question is what Width bars he was using?
  • 1 0
 Most colourfull catacombs ever!! Sick!!
  • 2 0
 Whats the song?
  • 1 1
 Birdcloud - Saving Myself for Jesus
  • 1 0
 Requiem Mass in D Minor, K. 626: VII. Lacrimosa
  • 1 1
 all that focus on number of views is taking mtb in really bizarre direction... what's next?
  • 1 0
 If there was a time to wear gloves, this is it.
  • 1 0
 the amount of bone puns I just fucking read
  • 3 3
 God bless the dead - Tupac
  • 2 0
 Only Death is Real - Hellhammer book, 2009
  • 1 0
 Oh Hell no!!
  • 1 2
 In Canada this would be a big deal worksafe issue.
  • 1 4
 Good way to get an incurable lung infection. Idiocy.







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