One of the (or so I was told) must-do things in Paris is to go to the catacombs. I’m not sure why I never did go as it sounded like an interesting change from art museums and the like. Down 130 steps into the bowels of Paris lies the ancient ossuary of the bones of about 6 million people moved from ancient burial grounds along the tunnels of underground Paris.
And just to continue with the theme, after coming up from the catacombs, I went to the nearby Montparnasse cemetery, where such notable as Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Seberg, and Alfred Dreyfus (The Dreyfus Affair). There is something fascinating about walking through these cemeteries, the quiet against the somber, gray sky, that brings history that much closer. The most famous cemetery, Père-Lachaise, is where such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere, and Edith Piaf are buried. I had visited this my first trip to Paris and if you’ve never been to one of these cemeteries, it should be on your list for places to visit.
Montparnasse Cemetary
Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir
Samuel Beckett
Interesting grave stone
Andre Citroen
Alfred Dreyfus
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