 | Paris Cemeteries & Other Resting Places Reviews | Tips 31 - 40 of 130 |  |
It looks as a small town, the beautiful tombs being the last homes of many famous and not so famous people. Some of them are real pieces of art, there are also beautiful statues here and there. I'm not sure it's off the beaten path as there are some tourists looking for celebs' graves but still it's much less crowded and more peaceful than the typical touristy places. Leave a Comment
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This grave I couldn't miss. Jim Morrison, a great American poet.
'Do you know the warm progress under the stars?
Do you know we exist?
Have you forgotten the keys to the Kingdom?
Have you been born yet and are you alive?'
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'Do you know we are being led to slaughters by placid admirals
and that fat slow generals are getting obscene on young blood
Do you know we are ruled by T. V....'
from "An American Prayer" Leave a Comment
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Yes, we Americans of the Rock n Roll generation have this fascination with Jim Morrison - even the teens today are into him. So, we went to the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise and discovered how unsually beautiful it was there. There are more photos on my travelogue album. It was very easy to get to by Metro. If you don't visit this particular cemetery, you should at least visit one - it is an awesome sight! See virtual website for map and list of famous names.
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A lot of people visit Pere Lachaise for the grave of rock star Jim Morrison, but there are plenty of other former folk to visit, among them Edith Piaf, Colette, Moliere, Marcel Proust, Sarah Bernhardt and Oscar Wilde. My main reason for my visit was the visit the Holocaust memorials in section 97 near ave Gambetta. We used the secondary entrance at that end of the cemetery.
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Getting there: Bus 69, which runs from near the Eiffel Tower to both entrances of Pere Lachaise was the way we went. The metro stations are either Gambetta or Philippe-Auguste.
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In this tip I'm offering some general images of Pere Lachaise and surroundings. In the next tip I will talk about the Holocaust memorials.
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The history of the cemetary is an interesting one. Check the website listed under 'other' below for the details. Leave a Comment
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Land of The Dead. When the cemetaries of Paris were full they dug up all the old bones and put them here. Very Weird place right under the city. After you pay your entrance fee you decend some stairs and then its a long walk underground on gravel to reach the bones, about 1/4 mile(not exaggerating) or longer it was hard to tell and it was kinda dark too. If you are claustraphobic this is not the place for you. It is an interesting place worth seeing, but make sure not to try and steal any bones, once you climb the 80 or so steps back to the top a security guard serches you to see if you have taken anything. Take the metro to the Denfert-Rochereau metro station, its the unassuming building across the street. Leave a Comment
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The catacombes are a fascinating and worthwhile experience for visitors to Paris. The entry for the catacombes in located in a very small, random building in Place Denfert-Rochereau. Unfortunately, the catacombes are not handicapped accessible, and I would not recommend this tour for anyone in ill health or with walking disabilities. To get to the catacombes you must descend a spiral staircase that goes deep underground. It's a very small area as well, so if you are clausterphobic, I would also not recommend this tour. You walk for about 10 minutes through narrow tunnels that have been used for hundreds of years. Once you reach the entryway, you are greeted with a sign that says "c'est empire de la mort" It's the empire of the dead.
Once you enter, the bones are at first shocking and then it becomes so overwhelming. I found the experience difficult because I viewed each skull with the thought of "this was somebody's husband or wife, son or daughter, mother or father" It's really strange to see how everything you are in lost when the skin is gone and you are just bone. It's endless rows and rows of bones, mostly femurs and skulls.
One things that did concern me was the amount of mold growing on the bones. My brother and I both experienced respiratory problems towards the end of the tour that continued for awhile afterwards. We had trouble getting full breaths and our throats were very dry. With the amount of bones in there, there is a lot of dust and particles in the air that people with respiratory problems should be aware of.
We brought along a small flashlight with us, and it proved very useful. We were able to look into the back nooks and crannies, areas that were closed off from visitors. We got to see passageways that continued on into the vast darkness that no visitor was permitted to ever see. You get an idea of how expansive the catacombes are, they aren't just confined to the tour area. Overall, it's a very interesting tour and I highly recommend it. Leave a Comment
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The catacombs
Paris is full of old underground quarries used to built the house in the 11-15th century. A small part of these quarries have been used to empty the cemeteries in the 18th century. There is 6 millions of individuals in 11000 m² ...
Location : 1 place Denfert-Rochereau , 75014 Paris
Subway : Denfert-Rochereau (line 4) Leave a Comment
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Upon entering the cemetery it is obvious why most people visit Pere Lechaise-- to see Jim Morrison's grave. There are make shift signs scrawled everywhere beckoning you "this way". I was suprised how many people had congregated at his graves. There were tributes and graffiti everywhere! It was actually a little disturbing because many other graves had been defaced. I was shocked by how many people were congregated at the grave when we arrived on such a cold, gray day. Notice the bust of Jim Morrison's head is missing; someone stole it. Leave a Comment
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When you need a break from the conventional, this would definitely be the place for you...the Paris Catecombs! They're off-the-beaten-path, location-wise, but are actually one of Paris' top attractions so you'll find them listed in any guidebook. A maze of corridors and chambers await you down here, make sure someone in your party has a flashlight or you may take a turn and never be seen again. After walking and wandering for what seems forEVer, voila! you come upon the rooms of floor-to-ceiling bones and skulls, all stacked very neatly. Been here for centuries 'cause the regular cemeteries just ran out of room, really. Not for the squeamish or claustrophobic, but for anyone else who has a macabre sense of adventure... Leave a Comment
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At the Père-Lachaise Cemetery you will find a large number of celebrities, buried here since 1804, e.g. Honoré de Balzac, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin and Edith Piaf. One of the more recent celebrities buried here is Jim Morrison of the Doors who died in Paris July 3rd 1971.
Métro: Père Lachaise, Philippe-Auguste Leave a Comment
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