Since the Louvre doesn’t open on Tuesday, Chris and I decided to spend the afternoon at Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. I wouldn’t doubt that the 48 hectare Pere Lachaise is the world’s most visited cemetery. With over 1 million resting here and such luminaries as composer Chopin, writers Moliere, Balzac, Proust, Collette and Gertrude Stein and artists Pissarro and Modigliani, it’s not hard to imagine why. Course I wanted to visit Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and of course, Pere Lachaise’s most famous resident, The Doors’ Jim Morrison.
The cemetery is made up of cobble stones and elaborate tombs with rows of shade bearing trees. Unlike Highgate and Montmartre, Pere Lachaise is well looked after and tended to. It is hardly morbid, but rather it’s like a park, and I spied some young lovers on benches, groups of family tourists and some random Parisiennes having a pleasant lunchtime walk.
We stopped off at Jim Morrison’s grave. I remember seeing a picture of a bust of Morrison on the tomb a long time ago, but it’s no longer there. It’s a simple grave, adorned with bouquets of flowers, candles and cigarettes. Someone also left a Doors cd and a bottle of wine as an offering. What was more interesting was another person’s tomb in front of Morrison’s grave that had been graffiti’d with words and messages to Jim. Fans wrote messages of love on the walls of this someone else, so any fans to follow can read their thoughts.
Also a recent thing, I’m sure, is the security guard permanently posted to watch out for misbehaving fans paying homage to the singer by drinking, getting high or having sex on top of his grave. And you can no longer get too close, as there’s a guardrail around the grave now.
More elegant was that of Edith Piaf, France’s little singing sparrow. It’s not flash, but rather a black marble grave marker, adorned with rosaries, flowers and potted green plants.
I had to see Oscar Wilde’s grave, as I’m a fan of his works and words. The grave is hard to miss, being outlandish and eccentric, just like Wilde was. There is a naked winged angel carved into his tomb. Although there is a small plaque saying it was illegal to deface this heritage monument, that didn’t stop the thousands of women kissing the grave and leaving their telltale lipstick marks, along with roses as offerings and words of love written on the stone. For the record, I did not leave a kiss. I’m much too much of a germaphobe for that.
The heat and sun was getting the best of us, so we went to a nearby cafe for some cold drinks. Feeling bad for the server, I decided to order a coke, rather than a glass of tap water. But i got the shock as my glass of coke cost more than Chris’ pint of Amstel. I was told that beer was cheaper than bottled water in Australia, but I didn’t know it was somewhat the same thing for Paris!
Sidebar: I will never understand or be one of those people who can sit out for hours in the direct sun at a restaurant patio. Those guys are made of stronger stuff. Not only would I get sunburned, I’m sure I’d suffer from sunstroke or heatstroke. Always a covered patio for me.
Only up for one more thing in this oppressive heat, we went to check out Musee d’Orsay. The museum is housed in what used to be a train station from the 1900s. Orson Welles filmed Kafka’s The Trial here in 1962. Its collection encompasses works from the art nouveau, impressionist and post impressionist eras. On display are artists such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse, Degas, Monet and Renoir. Although I’m not a huge fan of Impressionism or pastels, we did the quick look on the 5th floor.
Chris showed me a favourite of his, thinking I would like it too. And I did. What blew me away was Rodin’s Gates of Hell, located on 2nd floor. This masterpiece is immense. and I’m sure the Keanu Reeves/Al Pacino movie, The Devil’s Advocate scene at the end, takes its influence from this sculpture. I can’t believe this was conceived by the same artist who gave the world, The Thinker. It even has a small scale thinker at the top of the gates of hell.
I enjoyed the sculptures in the lower court yard and favourite paintings include:
George Rochegrosse’s Le chevalier aux fleurs
Marianne Stokes’ La jeune fille et la mort
Alexandre Cabanel’s Mort de francesca de riminiet de paolo malatesta
There was even a 1/100th detailed, longitudinal cross section model of the Palais Garnier, the original Paris opera house, on display in the back wing. There was a rope and stanchion set up to close the wing, but the security guard was so nice to us and made an exception for us only; that is, if we were quick about it. Bien sur. So kind to let us in that wing for a look when it was closing time and everyone was being slowly ushered out to the front doors.
We had a great day, saw many wonderful things and I’m still impressed with the French hospitality. What I can do without is the 30c weather (I can’t imagine it when summer really comes full on in July/August) unless you’re uber rich, air conditioning is a luxury here. It’s been so hot the past couple of days, there’s been 2 blackouts in our area of Clichy (one while we were shopping at the market today! never had that happen before!) So the rest of the day, we grabbed some drinks, snacks and fruit to await for the heat to break into a more comfortable night.
View more photos of my trip on my Flickr album.
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