Cemeteries

Continuing on my somewhat morbid theme of the day, I moved on to Cimetière du Montparnesse. When I first went in, I was taken aback because it's very unlike cemeteries from home. Instead of stones, the majority of grave sites are actual tombs. There were a bunch of people/tourists in the cemetery, and they even had tour guides to point out specific graves. I decided to just kind of wander and see what I came across. I ended up stumbling onto Serge Gainsbourg's tomb. It was PACKED. Not only was there a group of people taking pictures, people had left notes, trees, ornaments, CDs, metro tickets, even smoked cigarettes (which is nicer than it sounds). So after I saw his, I was like, "Wow, if Serge got that much attention, I can't wait to see Jean-Paul Sartre's grave!" Plus he's buried with Simone de Beauvoir, and while I've never read her stuff, she's always seemed like an interesting person (talk about power couples). So after a while of wandering, I finally found it- and was surprised to see almost nothing on it! I couldn't believe that a singer like Serge Gainsbourg (he's good and everything, but come on) would attract so much more attention than 2 such influential writers/ philosophers! But then I was thinking, maybe all his fans are existentialists and therefore don't put much stock in stuff like tombstones.. or even death really.







So after I finished wandering around there, I metro'ed over to Père-Lachaise, another famous Parisian cemetery. I'd tried visiting here on my third day in Paris, but it was closed because of the snow. Someone had described visiting here as "haunting" and I would have to say I agree. It was absolutely gorgeous, with cobblestone paths and trees lining the walkways. It's also huge, and I didn't have a map with me, so I did some wandering around here as well. Finally, a Frenchman caught my attention by yelling "Jee-mee Morr-ee-son" (that was my phonetic spelling of how he pronounced "Jimmy Morrison") and pointed me in the right direction. So I at least got to see Jim Morrison's grave, which actually has a small gate in front of it, I guess to keep people back. After I saw his, I walked around a little more. It really is a gorgeous cemetery, and I bet it will be even better in the spring. It's also close enough that I was able to walk home in about 15 minutes, stopping at a Boulangerie-Patisserie on the way home for a snack!

The Catacombs- the only word for it is "creepy"

I'm not sure how much anyone knows about the Catacombs in Paris. It's this long, underground ossuary/ burial ground 20 m underneath Paris. At one point in Paris's history, the cemeteries were getting overcrowded and the residue from so many decaying bodies was polluting the water systems in Paris. So they had this great idea to relocate all of these bodies and move them undergound. At first it was just a dumping ground, but eventually the government decided to artistically arrange them. And thus became the Catacombs- it's actually miles and miles long, but only a portion of it is open to the public. It's a very, very strange experience- being underground, it's dark, damp (the ceiling is dripping and the stones on the ground are wet), and you're surrounded by thousands of bones. To add to the atmosphere, there are all these stones with quotes about death written on them.


Bear with me here, because my french is still not too strong- but I think that says something like, "Come, men of the world, come in demure silence, with a calm soul, to be hit by the voice which will raise your spirit- here is the greatest of master, the tomb, holding the school of truth." Inspirational, isn't it?

Also, this picture is an example of what the majority of the Catacombs looked like- this huge pile of bones, labeled with the cemetery from where they came.

Very, VERY creepy.

Zee Eiffel Tower! Zee Siene!

(The picture's a little crooked- I took it from an angle. Just tilt your head a little).

After my trip to the Louvre, I walked along the Seine into the 7th arondissement, which is where the Eiffel Tower is! I feel like the Eiffel Tower is so iconic, it almost seemed familiar the first time I saw it.

Ooh la la, le Louvre!

(The first picture is a picture I took from inside, looking out a window; the second is the pyramid from the inside, and the last is the pyramid from the outside)

My first Saturday here, I went to the Louvre. I had always heard that this museum is huge, but wow! I had no idea! I spent a little over 3 hours here, and only covered about a quarter of the museum. I think the statistic is that if you were to look at every piece of art for 30 seconds each, you'd be there for over two weeks straight! Luckily I'll be able to go back often since it's free for people living in France. I spent all my time in the Sully wing. While all of the paintings are gorgeous, half the experience is the building itself! The ceilings and walls, the architecture, everything about it is incredibly ornate and très, très french!

I saw the big three my first visit here- La Jaconde (the Mona Lisa), the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory (all accidentally- I just stumbled onto all three). These are the most famous pieces in the Louvre, but not my favorites (although the line for the Mona Lisa was ridiculous- which is why I only took a side shot on my way around it).

Square St.-Irénée

Right Now, I'm living in the eleventh arondissement in Paris. The eleventh is known for being the location of the Bastille, the french prison that was stormed during the French Revolution. The first week I was here, the family I'm working for took me on a drive all around Paris and showed me all the highlights of Paris. One of our first stops was the Bastille, but all they pointed out to me was the Colonne de Juillet, which is a monument to the revolution. I kept looking around for the Bastille, but didn't say anything when I couldn't see it. This turned out to be a good move, since I later read in a tour book that the prison was completely destroyed, but "ignorant tourists still often ask bemused Parisians where they can find the Bastille." Thank goodness I didn't say anything! Above is a picture I took really quickly getting off the Metro with the Colonne de Juillet in the distance. The Bastille is only 2 subway stops away from me, and I've been running there everyday- it's only about four minutes there, so it's very close! The Bastille is known as a really good place to go out on the weekends- it's filled with tons of nightclubs and bars.

Right now, until my apartment is all renovated, I'm living with the family. The parents very nicely gave me their bedroom to stay in until I move out next month. This is a bad quality picture I took using the camera on my computer, but it's the view from my room! The gray building is actually this gorgeous church called St. Ambroise (also the name of the Metro station right by the house). This is a picture of the church from the front- with a bonus actual french person in the picture! I went to mass here my first week, but since then I've been going to a Protestant church where they speak English (sorry, Gmom)



Also, if you want a general sense of where in Paris I'm living, I made a big purple star on this Metro map (I'm right in between St. Ambroise online 9, and Richard Lenoir on Line 5):