The American kid in me misses the opportunity to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween special again this year (and really, do we call anything on TV a “special” anymore?). Even greater than cartoon nostalgia, I really miss being home during this time of the year. An upbringing filled with Nathaniel Hawthorne, pumpkin picking at the Bourne Farm, and a Middle School trip to Plimouth Plantation all combined to shape me into a right and proper New Englander who appreciates the season.
Trick or Treaters spotted yesterday at the Jardin de Tuileries. No houses around here though- I’m not sure where these youngsters are gonna get their Fun Size Charleton Chews, Bazooka gum, and bags of pennies…
Here in France, people are quickly learning to tap into the unguarded secret that Halloween is a fantastic commercial powerhouse. Toussaint? These days this public holiday is less religious and more like a happy occasion for a day off- one that can be preceded by an evening of happy revelry for the older costume-wearing generation. Throughout the month of October, Parisian store windows are covered in nylon cobwebs, and at long last non-indigenous flavors like pumpkin have made happy landfall into French cuisine. Halloween’s a good time for all.
For this post, I’ve got a random assortment of photos that have I snapped through three of the heavy-hitting cemeteries here in Paris. Many of them are tombstones of recognizable personages who have long since left us- but I figure that for those of you who haven’t made the trip over here, it’s a good opportunity to pay your respects. Or smear lipstick all over their graves. Whatever’s your fancy…
How fantastic is it that Père Lachaise Cemetery has a perimeter street with a name like this?
Père Lachaise is the oldest cemetery in Paris (est. 1804) and as such it is kind of built like Boston. That is to say, a lot of the, um, domiciles, were built before proper roadways were considered.
In case you wanted to know what Jim Morrison’s grave looks like, you’re going to have to stand behind the grate and vie for a spot among the other grieving relatives tourists. The last time I was here was back in 1998, and there wasn’t any of this crowd control going on. It would appear that in this cemetery, people are not always coming by and embracing the meaning of “paying one’s respects”. More on that in a bit.
A closer in zoom of Morrison’s grave. I bet his neighbors are pissed that they are completely overlooked by all of this fanfare. Incidentally, did you know Morrison’s father was an admiral in the Navy?
Back to paying one’s respects. I don’t care what you say, but I like Oscar Wilde (and it’s not just because he’s Irish). Like Chez Jim, this grave didn’t used to look like this; I was pretty disgusted to come upon it and see what time had done to his already ostentatious grave marker.
The back of the stone. Pretty disgusting. We humans are classy people.
I’d like to say she’s just gotten a look at Wilde’s grave, alas, there’s plenty better things to be grieving around these parts.
I’m told that there’s over one million people buried in this cemetery.
You can buy maps of the cemeteries and then spend hours wandering around to see who’s here. Or be like me- have a plan to go and see someone, forget halfway up who or where are, and then opt to simply weave about the cool grave markers. It just seems bizarre to buy a graveyard map.
Père Lachaise claims to be the most visited cemetery in the world. Even still, it’s remains a peaceful cut away from all of the attractions going on in city center.
Over on the left bank, we have Montparnasse Cemetery, first opened in 1824. You can see that it is a bit more spacious than its sister in the northeast part of the city.
Again, many artists and intellectuals are buried here (to include the guy who sculpted the Statue of Liberty!). This guy’s quote adorned my steno book during one particularly sour deployment: “L’enfer, c’est les autres“.
Montparnasse is a bit more modern, and a little less on the traditional side when it comes to putting up what you want to honor your dead.
The grave of Serge Gainsbourg, a well-known French poet and artist. I like how a lot of people leave their metro tickets on popular grave sites. It kind of brings a visitor’s journey to the cemetry in contact with that of the departed- and it does far less damage than lipstick.
I don’t know who this is, but I am pretty sure they are the only person who’s got a pelican sitting on top of them.
Can you tell what Alexander Alekhine did with his spare time?
Big, colorful, mosaic-y cat. It totally blends in with the neighborhood.
Samuel Beckett, another Irish literary hero of mine, is buried here. It was nice to contrast his plot with that of his countryman reposing in Père Lachaise. Then again, these two dudes had very different writing styles- lifestyles- you know what I mean…
Women’s suffrage. I don’t know who this was.
More examples of modern adornment. This long grave doubled as a little garden.
The grave of Marthe Laurens. I only know this because it was written at the base.
Montparnasse has 30,000 people buried here. It’s a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
And I actually only have one photo to post from the Montmartre Cemetery- but this is because I have already posted some pics in a previous blog entry (click here to check it out). I always pass by this place on my morning runs, and you can’t help but wonder when and where you yourself will eventually arrive at your final resting place..
If all of the dead were not sufficient Halloween consumption for you, I recommend you click on this link here to check out a cool poem that I often think about at this time of the year. This photo is of my brother standing in our living room- taken at this year’s Halloween party. The poem is courtesy of Donald Justice, who had his own Incident in a Rose Garden back in 2004.
Happy Halloween people! Start a bonfire (everyone but you, Myriah) or eat some candy for me!