Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Père Lachaise and the Catacombs



I was talking to my french professor at Baylor one day when he said " i love going to Pere lachaise cemetery to just relax and eat a sandwich". I stared at him wide eyed like what? who takes a leisurely trip to the cemetery? C'est bizarre, non? I decided to give it a go and i've got to say, that sandwich was delicious!
Père Lachaise Cemetery  is the world's most visited cemetery with over 1 million bodies buried there. These include famous poets, singers, writers, politicians and more. I took it upon myself to visit the graves of Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf. American singer Jim Morrison is also buried there. It is tradition to put on red lipstick and kiss Oscar Wilde's tombstone (more like a tomb boulder), but i decided against it..for sanitary reasons. 
We also visited the catacombs which is a site where millions of bones of the dead are pretty much stacked on top of each other (To read its history click here) . A wall of human skulls and bones. it was quite creepy. Apparently people actually try to steal the bones too. everyday they catch at least 5 people with a skull in their bag. People never cease to amaze me. Photos of Père Lachaise are first and then the catacombs come after. It was quite dark in the catacombs so forgive the picture quality.









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