PARIS – from cemeteries to hunchbacks
Friday – after a wonderful sleep in a full size bed it is time to forget about the nightmare arrival in the City of Light and think about today’s adventures. Last night we took a little walk and purchased some bread, jam, coffee, milk etc and I have my ever ready vegemite so all seems well with the world.
A refreshing shower, checking the day’s events and packing our cameras plus anything else we may need, we head off to the first point on our itinerary – Pere Lachaise cemetery, resting place of the famous and infamous. Kylie and I love cemeteries.
We walk to the our closest metro – Louis Blanc and purchase what we think is a tourist ticket. The ticket seller gives us the wrong tickets and all hell breaks loose! The cheaper tourist tickets are for French citizens only – yep don’t worry about the rest of us that have come from thousands of kilometres away we have to pay for the expensive 3 day tourist ticket – and after a rather heated discussion where she tells us we will not get a refund – Kylie lets loose and between the two of us together with the lines of people behind us continuing to grow, we are finally given a refund. Stupid, rude, obnoxious ticket seller. The day is not off to a good start.
We purchase a ‘carnet’ from a ticket machine that does not answer back. This is a batch of 10 tickets that will take you on 10 journeys through the metro system. Better than the ‘tourist if you are not french 3 day tickets’.
Anyway, back to our sightseeing adventures. From Louis Blanc we take the train to Republique where we change for Gambetta. The entry that we have chosen is not far from the station. A short walk and we are soon there. Maps of the cemetery are 2 euro and in another one of our lack of wisdom moments we decide that we do not need a map as we have everything printed out that we want to see. Big mistake!!! Travelling Trio Tip – if you plan to go to this humungous cemetery – buy a map!
Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris is probably one of the greatest collections of (dead) human talent in the world. It is claimed to be the most visited graveyard in the world, and with so many famous people interred there it may well be true.
Posted at the entrances are maps pointing visitors towards the most famous graves, but on every path there are monuments which make you stop and stare. It might seem a bit of a macabre way to spend your time, but because there are so many famous tombs, and such artistry in the graves, it becomes something like a visit to a museum.
Opened in 1804 on the site of a former Jesuit retreat, Pere-Lachaise is today one of the world’s largest and most famous cemeteries.
In fact, more than a million and a half people come to Pere-Lachaise each year, to walk its nearly 109 acres consisting of tens of thousands of monuments, many of which are dedicated to some of the world’s greatest names in the arts, sciences, literature and of course history. You will also discover some of the most powerful and poignant memorials to the tens of thousands of French Jews deported to Nazi death camps, virtually all of whom perished.
Walking up a slight hill there are many monuments to war victims that line the way. Our first stop will be the Columbarium – or the place where people’s ashes are interred. Columbarium sounds nicer don’t you think?
Down a small set of stairs at the entrance – see picture left – the air is cool, the atmosphere calming and we find rows upon rows of plaques. Most of the plaques have flowers beside them so the search is on to find two great ladies that reside here. One achieved greatness in the dance and the other in the world of high opera.
Our first lady, Isadora Duncan was a dancer, born in California on 27th May 1877, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death on 14th September 1927 at age 50.
She performed to acclaim throughout Europe after being exiled from the United States for her Soviet sympathies. Duncan’s fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in an automobile accident in France when she was a passenger in a car. Her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, breaking her neck – not a pleasant way to depart this life.
The second of our famous ladies is Maria Callas (2nd December 1923 – 16th September 1977). Maria was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century.
Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina. Born in New York City and raised by an overbearing mother, she received her musical education in Greece and established her career in Italy. Forced to deal with the extreme situations of wartime poverty and with myopia that left her nearly blind onstage, she endured struggles and scandal over the course of her career.
The press delighted in publicizing Callas’s allegedly temperamental behaviour and her love affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Her influence was so enduring that, in 2006, Opera News wrote of her: “Nearly thirty years after her death, she’s still the definition of the diva as artist—and still one of classical music’s best-selling vocalists.”
Time to wander through the huge grounds to find the famous names on our list and also to discover the many, many ornate headstones that will catch our eye. The grounds are very well kept and the headstones / graves and mausoleums are so tightly packed in some areas that it is hard to walk between them without fear of treading on someone’s last resting place.
Kylie and I love cemeteries. Have I mentioned that before? Oh well, if I have then it can bear saying again. The stories that you discover, the workmanship of the stonemasons – it all comes together to say ‘this is where I rest, I will go no further – stay with me for a moment and ponder my life’.
Next point of interest – the tomb of Oscar Wilde. We were lucky enough to see the many lipstick kisses as sometime after our visit the tomb was cleaned of the many marks left there by admirers, and a glass barrier was installed to prevent further marks or damage.
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (16th October 1854 – 30th November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890s.
One of his most famous publications was The Picture of Dorian Gray. The story begins with a man painting a picture of Gray. When Gray, who has a “face like ivory and rose leaves”, sees his finished portrait, he breaks down. Distraught that his beauty will fade while the portrait stays beautiful, he inadvertently makes bargain with the dark side in which the painted image grows old while he stays young and beautiful. For Wilde, the purpose of art would be to guide life if beauty alone were its object. Today he is remembered for his epigrams and plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment which was followed by his early death by cerebral meningitis.
Next stop – a visit with Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas.
Being quite honest I do not have much of a idea about these two ladies – the only thing I know is Gertrude Stein was a writer and there was a movie called ‘I Love You, Alice B Toklas’. You can read more about the two of them and their relationship by clicking here. The stones you see on the headstones are a mark of respect left by admirers.
As we continue our walk the next group of memorials we come across are those of persons who perished at the Nazi Concentration Camps during World War II.
This is the memorial dedicated to those who perished at Auschwitz. I will not go into detail on Auschwitz here – it is a time for reflection.
Studying the Nazi war machine as part of my high school education, these memorials make me recollect the horrendous conditions and crimes against humanity that were carried out at such institutions. We should never forget these souls and all of us should work towards preventing anything like this ever happening again.
After such a sobering visit – we next discover the graves of Edith Piaf (left), Yves Montand and Simone Signoret (centre) and Sarah Bernhardt (right).
Edith Piaf, also known as ‘The Little Sparrow’ was a singer who became widely regarded as one of France’s greatest international stars. Among her songs is the ever popular ‘La Vie en rose’.
Yves Montand, born in Italy moved to France with his family and became an actor/ dancer appearing in such films as Let’s Make Love with Marilyn Monroe. I however remember him for his portrayal of Jean-Paul Sarti, a formula one race driver in Grand Prix. He married Simone Signoret in 1951, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage lasted until her death in 1985.
Sarah Bernhardt was a famous French stage and film actress and has been referred to as “the most famous actress the world has ever known”. Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas. She developed a reputation as a serious dramatic actress, earning the nickname “The Divine Sarah.”
From one section of famous actors we now head to the gravesite of an American musician – Jim Morrison, who led one of the most famous of the Los Angeles sixties groups – The Doors – until his death in a Paris bathtub at age 27.
It is tucked away in a tiny corner and it has constantly been vandalised. A bust of Morrison and a new gravestone was defaced through the years by cemetery vandals and later stolen in 1988. In the early 1990s Morrison’s father placed a flat stone on the grave.
It is now surrounded by a fence so if you want to put anything on it you have to throw and hope.
Now for one of history’s finest composers – Frederic Chopin. Born on March 1, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Poland, Frédéric Chopin, grew up in a middle-class French family.
He published his first composition at age seven and began performing one year later. In 1831, he moved to Paris, socialized with high society and was known as an excellent piano teacher. His piano compositions were highly influential. His connection with Madame Dudevant, better known as George Sand, was an important piece of his life. In 1839 his health began to fail and Madame Dudevant went with him to Majorca, and it was mainly owing to her tender care that the composer recovered his health for a time.
Chopin declared that the destruction of his relations with Madame Dudevant in 1847 broke up his life. The last ten years of Chopin’s life were a continual struggle with tuberculosis to which he succumbed in Paris on the 17th of October 1849.
Above are just the highlights of the tour so to speak. There were of course many, many other graves we visited – some with beautiful adorations and some that are so sad and melancholy.
Walking down the hill to the exit gates it is time for lunch so we head across the road to a rather ‘French’ eatery – Au Rond Point. We find a table on the outside of the cafe – most probably more expensive to sit out here – but we do not care – I order a ham and cheese panini and a glass of sav blanc. Delicious.
Lovely to have a rest and watch the Parisienne life walk past us and the food and drink is most welcome.
Our plan of attack from here is to take the Metro back to central Paris and visit Notre Dame and then later this afternoon/evening – The Louvre.
Having found our way back to the fresh air after the train, and now walking along the Seine heading towards Notre Dame we pass Sainte Chapelle – built during the second half of 13th Century by Louis IX, the future Saint Louis, to house the relics of the Passion of Christ. Adorned with a unique collection of fifteen glass panels and a large rose window forming a veritable wall of light, Sainte-Chapelle is a gem of French gothic architecture. In 1239, after two years of negotiations, Louis IX bought Christ’s crown of thorns from Beaudoin II, the Emperor of Constantinople, for a considerable sum.
In 1241 he acquired some more relics from Byzantium and decided to build a monument worthy of such treasure. As well as the wonderful windows, Sainte Chapelle was decorated with wall paintings, which were faithfully restored in 19th Century, and carvings of a remarkable finesse and variety.
Notre Dame – not the largest cathedral in the world, Notre-Dame might be the most famous of all cathedrals. The gothic masterpiece is located on the Ile de la Cite, a small island in the heart of the city.
Commenced in 1163, it took until 1345 before the cathedral was completed, partly because the design was enlarged during construction. This is a huge building, 128m long with two 69 metre tall towers. The spire, which reaches 90m, was added in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc. The Notre-Dame Cathedral has several large rose windows, the northern 13th century window is the most impressive. The massive window has a diameter of 13.1 metres.
During the French Revolution many of the sculptures, gargoyles and interiors were removed or demolished. Even the Gallery of Kings was severely damaged.
The frontal west facade features 3 wide portals; above the portals is the Gallery of Kings – 28 statues of Judean Kings – and higher up are the famous gargoyles and grotesques. The spectacular eastern flying buttresses at the east side of the building are 15m wide.
After photographing the front of the cathedral, we proceed to a statue of Charlemagne (742-814), a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814.
In 771, Charlemagne became king of the Franks, a Germanic tribe in present-day Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and western Germany. He embarked on a mission to unite all Germanic people into one kingdom, and convert his subjects to Christianity.
A skilled military strategist, he spent much of his reign engaged in warfare in order to accomplish his goals. In 800, Pope Leo III (750-816) crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans. When he died in 814, Charlemagne’s empire encompassed much of Western Europe, and he had also ensured the survival of Christianity in the West. Today, Charlemagne is referred to by some as the father of Europe.
Walking past the statue of Charlemagne and further around the side of the cathedral, we get a totally different perspective of the size of this magnificent structure. Just standing at the front does not give a true indication. Take the time to walk right around down the river side and you will be pleasantly surprised. Once you have gathered your senses you will notice the South Rose window –
this was a gift from the king Saint Louis.
It was designed by Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil. The Cathedral’s first construction master, Jean de Chelles, laid the first stone of the south transept façade in 1258.
The South Rose Window, a central element that thrones over the transept façade, was constructed in 1260 as a counterpoint to the North Rose Window, which was built in 1250. Like its north sister, the South Rose Window reaches 12.90 metres in diameter and a total height of nearly 19 metres.
It’s a shame that we do not get a chance to see it from the inside – I can imagine what it would be like with the sunlight streaming through all the stained glass highlighting the panels dedicated to the New Testament.
At the back of the cathedral there is a large park area where I get a great view of the famous ‘flying buttresses’. These originated from the idea of internal buttresses used in Romanesque architecture dating back to the 10th century. Buttresses were used for support on the inside of the church walls because it was thought that such large flat structures were unfitting to be seen on the outside of the churches.
The use of flying buttresses on the outside of these structures became necessary to build churches and cathedrals higher than ever before. With the beginning of the Gothic period, flying buttresses not only became used more for their function, but for their appearance as well. Gothic architecture began in the 12th century in France and lasted until the 16th century.
If you look at the photo of the front of the cathedral you would never guess that this is what’s behind it. Unfortunately we did not see any hunchbacks swinging on the gargoyles or bells today but we sit in the park for a while and feed the sparrows with a few crumbs left over from our lunch from the cafe. It is nice to sit in the shade, watch the Seine go about it’s business and enjoy some quiet time because we realise our next port of call – The Louvre – is not going to be so calm.