Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris
(Photo by RR, Nov. 1996)

Permanent Parisians

They can't speak,
but have something
to tell us
They liked Paris so much they decided to stay. Some have been there quite a while. Of course we are speaking of the illustrious dead that still reside in the City of Light.

You can find them in various parts of town. Sometimes you might walk right by them, not knowing they are there. Some of the tombs are in buildings such as the Pantheon, where you can commune with Voltaire, whose statue looks out at you from his crypt.

However, most tombs of interest to readers of these pages will be in either Père Lachaise, Montmartre, or Montparnasse cemeteries. If your time is limited, you might wish to see just Père Lachaise, and that will take the better part of a day. Even then you won't cover it all.

The Métro stop is appropriately named Père Lachaise. During the ride, you may notice that a few others in your car seem to be going there too. These will be the young people going to visit the grave of Jim Morrison.

As you emerge from underground, you encounter vendors selling maps of the cemetery. Buy the map (about $2.00) - it will be a big help. Père Lachaise is immense, and there are no signs saying "This way to Chopin". Comfortable walking shoes are also a good idea, and maybe some sandwiches and bottles of water.

There is nothing especially morbid about prowling through this cemetery. For one thing, there is a splendid panorama of the city of Paris. History is all around. Some of the notables buried here are: Auber, Balzac, Bizet, Charpentier, Chausson, Chopin, Colette, Isadora Duncan, Lalo, Modigliani, Yves Montand, Edith Piaf, Proust, Gertrude Stein and Oscar Wilde. When you leave you will probably discover that you have missed someone. There is always next time.

Leaving Père Lachaise, you will be reminded of your own mortality, but perhaps some of the people you visited were able to help with that. One message seems quite clear: the judgement of a person's contemporaries may not agree with the judgement of posterity. It is true that Chopin's grave receives flowers daily, but that of Daniel François Auber, who introduced grand opera into France and was renowned in his time, is completely uncared for.


Those who wish to pay their respects to Hector Berlioz (and his 2 wives) will have to visit the Montmartre cemetery. However, that is close to other attractions and is much smaller and easier to deal with. While there, say hello to Jacques Offenbach. Consult the weathered map posted near the entrance.

RR NR   (Revised 5/17/02) 		Berlioz Tomb
Montmartre Cemetery, 2000
(Photo by NR)

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