A Lovely Visit to . . . . Père Lachaise Cemetery

On Sunday, I went for a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery with Katherine and Oscar, my Sciences-Po friends from Australia. As someone who is scared to death of cemeteries, naturally I was quite resistant; however, they assured me that this cemetery is actually a major tourist attraction? So, lots of famous people are buried there and thus lots of people visit. I don't think I would like to be buried there; however, to each his own I suppose. Here is some of what I saw:






The entry gate to the cemetery.














A map of the cemetery. It was very big!!!















One of the graves. There were lots of creepy graves with doors that looked like little houses. It really gave me the shivers.

















The creepy man on the tomb looks like Dracula to me. And then there's that head behind him. Simply Victorian gothic!














The family tomb of Baron Haussmann. Essentially everything picturesque and today considered characteristic about Paris is his work.















If graves aren't maintained, the cemetery digs the people up and tosses their bones in here! Then, new people are buried in their old plots!!!













Oscar looking at Felix Faure, a former French president.


















A very creepy old death mask. Note the inscription below his head. The end of it says "Pink Floyd." I thought that was funny.








Heloise and Abelard. The famous couple from the 1100s who are supposed to be the precursors of Romeo and Juliette. They were moved to Pere Lachaise after the cemetery opened. They were being renovated when I visited.











Something to give you an idea of the general landscape.












One of many memorials to Holocaust victims.













The grave of Edith Piaf, a famous french singer. You have probably heard her music, or her style. Here's a link to one of her songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgW2gAGwB_w

Two Oscars ago, a french actress Marian Cotillard, one best actress for her role as Edith Piaf in a film about the singer's life. The movie is called "La Vie en Rose."










Me looking nerdy. It got really hot, so I rolled up my pants. They look very silly!

















The Hugo family. As in Victor Hugo. Author of Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is buried in the Pantheon, a non-religous burial place for France's greatest heroes.














The grave of Oscar Wilde. My camera was seriously dying at this point. I couldn't get a photo of Moliere because of it. Bummer.









The wall where most of the members of the Paris Commune of 1871 were assassinated. Communists tried to take over France following the Franco-Prussian war, but were thwarted in their attempts by royalists and bonapartists seaking to restore a strong executive to power.