Pere-Lachaise

The Pere-Lachaise Cemetery is about a 5 minute walk from my apartment and yesterday I went to go walk around it before I had class at 5 pm. The late class is really strange and will take some getting used to, but like any normal person who had free time I decided to spend it in a cemetery. It sounds pretty weird, but it's an absolutely huge cemetery, and a relatively famous one I suppose. I easily spent over an hour and a half wandering around taking photos and observing.

The cemetery reminded me of the ones I had seen in New Orleans when I went long ago. And realistically, that makes sense, but they are a far cry from the tombstone's seen in the states. The graves here are familial I suppose, but often that means they are quite huge. It was really quite incredible to see all of the architecture, time and energy that went into them. They are pretty hauntingly beautiful.

Beyond that, the cemetery is absolutely massive and set on a bit of a hill, so it's really quite amazing to walk around. But it was also quite disturbing. Due to the infamy of those buried there it has become a definite tourist location. It is a very odd juxtaposition to see people walking around the funeral with maps like they are exploring Disneyland; pointing out the next sight they want to see and having lively discussions. Then you would turn down another cross road and encounter an old widow mourning her loss.

All around it was a pretty strange and strangely beautiful place.... but I suppose I should have guessed as much when I decided to go venture around a cemetery...

The center photo above is of James (Jim) Morrison's grave, and to the left is a photo of the cemetery and it's vastness. All the names listed to the left are the "famous" people in Pere-Lachaise.