Paris 1

Recently we met my brother and his wife in Paris! We enjoyed the city for 6 days and then we all traveled to our place ( more central France) for a few more days of visiting and sight-seeing. I am writing several posts about our time together. The Parisian activities discussed in our posts are in no particular order.

A pastry purchased at Maison Landemaine : a passion fruit tart. Pretty and yummy! The box said they also have a location in Tokyo. 

While none of our group wanted to go up inside of the Eiffel Tower, we still wanted to take in the iconic structure. It just so happens that the Eiffel Tower is in the midst of  the 20th campaign to clean, strip rust and apply rest preventer to some areas, and re-paint. They focus on different areas with each renovation. It looked quite a bit different from what I had remembered. In recent decades it was painted in a range of brownish shades to "be in harmony with the Parisian cityscape," but this time it is being painted in a golden shade before the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was also painted like this at the beginning of the 20th century. The cost of this renovation before the Olympics is said to be around $60 million. 

Early one morning we visited Cimetière du Père Lachaise (Pere Lachaise Cemetery). It covers 93 acres and has 4000 trees. It was a lovely fall day and it was one of the few places we visited without hoards of other visitors. Also, entrance to the cemetery is free and does not require timed tickets to enter. 

A little history: The cemetery is named for Francois d'Aix de La Chaise (known as Père La Chaise) who was the priest confessor of King Louis IV. In 1804 space in Paris for burials was becoming very hard to find. Cemeteries were constructed on the outskirts of the city and this was one of them. There were 3 types of burials planned: mass graves, time-limited concessions and more prestigious monuments in a wooded area. By the close of 1804 only 13 graves existed at Père Lachaise. In 1817 someone must have thought the cemetery needed a boost. So, Molière's grave was located to Père Lachaise Cemetery. By 1830 there were 33,000 graves so it sounds like the plan worked. The Cemetery was expanded multiple times beginning in 1824. 

People continue to be entombed here, though there are very strict rules about that. You have to have lived in Paris or died in Paris.  There is always a waiting list. In more recent times there is a 30 year lease on a gravesite so if not renewed, the remains are removed, boxed, tagged and moved to  Aux Morts Ossuary (a special building still inside Père Lachaise). There are a lot of famous politicians, writers, actors, singers, scientists and nobles buried here. Paris officials say that around 1 million people are buried here (2-3 million if you count the remains in the Ossuary.)

We arrived very early on a Sunday morning.

Many tombs are designed like a telephone booth- just enough room to enter, kneel and pray.

A very interesting gravesite monument.

Gravesite of Frederic Chopin, Polish composer, died 1849.

Gravesite of Jim Morrison, American singer, died 1971.

Gravesite of Molière, French playwright, died 1673.

Other gravesites of famous persons to be found here include Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and so many more. The leaves were taking on their fall colors.

One tombstone contained the following: " La mémoire est le miroir où nous regardons les absents." Roughly translated it means the memory is the mirror where we look at the absent.

Over 3.5 million people visit this cemetery annually and is the most visited cemetery in the world.

One of our many coffee breaks!