Cimetiére du Pére Lachaise, Paris

If you remember back to my last review, I took you through the great little budget hotel we found in Paris. I mentioned there that we were out to do Paris on a tight budget. We did not want to miss out, not able to take in the indulgent cultures to be found in gay Paris, just because we are not as well off as some. So we had to really research the holiday before we set off, in order to know what we were going to do, and how to get there. It was this ...
...the unknown jewels in Frances crown.

So we left from our hotel, and walked for ten minutes to La Chappelle station, where are research told us we would be able to get a train straight to Pere Lachaise. Tickets cost us one Euro fifty each, which works out at about one pound twenty sterling. That was one of the best things we found about Paris. The public transport is very good. One Euro fifty was the maximum we paid on a train, and ... more

If you remember back to my last review, I took you through the great little budget hotel we found in Paris. I mentioned there that we were out to do Paris on a tight budget. We did not want to miss out, not able to take in the indulgent cultures to be found in gay Paris, just because we are not as well off as some. So we had to really research the holiday before we set off, in order to know what we were going to do, and how to get there. It was this research, that led us to Pere Lachaise cemetery, one of the unknown jewels in Frances crown.

So we left from our hotel, and walked for ten minutes to La Chappelle station, where are research told us we would be able to get a train straight to Pere Lachaise. Tickets cost us one Euro fifty each, which works out at about one pound twenty sterling. That was one of the best things we found about Paris. The public transport is very good. One Euro fifty was the maximum we paid on a train, and this was true should you stay on for one stop or ten. Excellent value!

We arrived at Pere Lachaise, and the station was literally at the entrance. One top tip from me, is to go to the little office, and get a map at the start. This is a big cemetery, trust me. The cemetery is split into little roads, each with their own street names and signs. Unfortunately tourists have thought it funny to turn these round, which to me is an insult to the lives of those who are buried there.
The cemetery itself seemed, as you would expect, a sombre place. I was struck by sheer scale of the place. I felt full of respect, and in a way it was a very emotive place. Some of the graves and tombs here cost hundreds of thousands, and are meticulously maintained by relatives of the people who rested there.

I am sure that there are many of you who are asking, "why would you want to go there?". Well, it is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. Named for Ft (Pere) Francois de la chaise, who was confessor to louis the fourteenth, the cemetery, and was father of the chapel at the time (his life spanned from 1624 to 1709.). At the start of the 19th century, is was bought by the city. This was when cemeteries in the city centre were banned, as they were seen to pose health hazards. This eventually led to the creation of the catacombs in the city. Lachaise was seen to be far enough out of the city to be acceptable. Though this posed problems too. It was seen to be too far out to be popular for burials, and initially only around twelve funerals took place there. But governments, being what they are saw a way round this. They transferred famous remains to the cemetery in 1804, and further high profile remains were moved to Pere Lachaise in 1817. This had the desired effect, and the numbers grew from 12 to 33,000.

So, why the history lesson?

Simple. It was this move by the French government that turned Pere Lachaise into what it is today. There are now over 300,000 buried there, and if you include the ashes at the crematorium, the numbers are closer to one million. It fast became the place for the nobility, and celebrity to be buried. It is this that makes it a really interesting place to visit today.
There are far too many important peoples grave here to mention here, lest the review would be about 50,000 words, but a few of my personal favourites are listed here.

Jim Morrison.

I was really excited to see this grave. Famous singer and songwriter with the doors, it was his wish to be buried here, having fallen in love with the capital, in particular the region of Montmartre. It was so interesting to see his grave. It was tiny, and poorly looked after in comparison, to the less famous graves around it. The Parisiens did not really want him here, as was the way he died. This can be seen in the vandalism around his grave. Pere Lachaise were forced to place a security guard at the grave. It is covered in graffiti, and is a poor end for such a great man.

Edith Piaf.

Famous French singer, most famous for the song "je ne regret rien". Her tomb is pristine, and is in itself a work of art. It reflects her beauty and talent when she was alive.

Frederic Chopin.
Polish composer, who was buried here. His music was renowned across the globe, and indeed his tomb was topped with a carving of an angel crying. It was said that she cried for the death of the music, which filled heavens hearts now, not ours here on earth. Although he was buried here, his heart is in a pillar, in the holy cross church in Warsaw.

Oscar Wilde.

His tomb is very art deco, and most noticeable is that it is covered with lipstick, from the thousands of men, and women who have come here to pay their respects by kissing the monument. coincidentally, when I was on holiday last year in Dublin, I visited the place of his birth, and there I stood in Paris having come full circle.

Simply, the list could go on. From the architect of the Louvre to Marcel Marceau. It is a really interesting place, filled with history, and grandeur. But as we walked, whiling away the hours we stumbled across perhaps the most moving place we have ever seen.

Not widely publicised, the cemetery has a section which contains large war monuments. The sheer scale, and beauty of these takes your breath away. For example there are separate monuments for those who died in the concentration camps of Auchwitz and Ravensbruck. Some of the inscriptions on these, even translated by my pigeon French, were really humbling. On one monument there wre stones placed there by visitors to symbolise people they had lost to the war. There were hundreds of these stones on the monument. Never before have I thought so long and hard about those who died for no reason. I was very emotional at this stage, and had to move on.

I hope this has been enlightening for you. We spent three hours here, and never spent a cent. It was probably one of the most interesting, and moving places I have been to in my life, and I would strongly suggest that visitors of Paris set aside the time to go there. You wont regret in.

To quote the late, great Oscar Wilde "A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."

Highly recommended. G

P.S. i have published this elsewhere on the net

P.P.S. You can take a really good virtual tour of the cemetery at www.pere-lachaise.com 

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