Paris, Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

This beauty is the Metro sign at the cemetery. This is one of a number of Paris metro entrances designed in 1900 by architech Hector Guimard. When he was contracted to design these structures the requirements for his art were elegance, using iron, glass and ceramics. "Today, with their sinuous organic lines, Art Neuveau lettering, and lights like floral pods that seem to sway at the end of their long cast iron stems, Guimard's Metro entrances have become some of the best known images of Paris." TWIGHLIGHT OF THE BELLE EPOCH, Mary Mcauliffe.

This is a person who was playing just outside the Metro entrance. Great guy. He and I had a good chinwag. In the previous picture you can see him to the left.

Okay, into the cemetery we go. Now, we are  just going to do a bit of a tour through this cemetery. Naturally, I did not cover the whole thing, heck, there are 70,000 people buried here, nor do I know anything about a lot of the people whose tombs and gravesights I took a picture of.  However, I did accent some the artists who are here, as we will see. So here we go.

Love the cobblestones and curved walkways.

Paul Baudry, decorator of the Paris Opera.

These two pictures are a complete look at top and bottom of the above sculpture.

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High school students making their after school way home through Pere Lachaise

Edith Piaf's grave.

Her family name was Gassion.  She was a French cabaret singer who is regarded as France's national diva, as well as being one of France's greatest international stars. And for whatever else we know or don't know about her, she was a great, great singer. 
No Regrets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Kvu6Kgp88 
Comme Moi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEz1B9oI9Io 

Photo by Felista 

 

Photo by Felista

Photo by Felista

Photo by Felista 

Here I am hidden amid the foliage and statuary looking over grave-sights as far as I can see.

Photo by Pete Murray

Holding up the fence at the tomb of French playwright, Moleire.

Photo by Felista

Panning back to the left a bit and there's Felista.

Sons Pete and Mike with the great French writer, Honoré de Balzac. In my view, Balzac is the greatest writer to put pen to page. "What about Tolstoy?" Asks son Mike. And what about Dickens and Melville, asks my friend Mike.

 

Photo by Mike Murray

   
Italian painter and sculpture, Amedeo Clemente Modigliani. If you have never seen this guy's work, it is outstanding.  http://www.modigliani-foundation.org/

Keeping vigil over Modigliani's grave.

Jimmy Morrison's grave.

Morrison thought he was snorting cocaine, but what he snorted was heroin, and it killed him. 

There's an alley-way. All kinds of neat alley-ways throughout Père Lachaise.

Italian composer, Gioachino Rossini 

Listening intently. Love those Italian composers. When you are listening to them you know you are alive.

Oscar Wilde and all sweet those kisses. He was an Irish writer, poet. He wrote THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST, among many other fine works.

Mike and Pete with Oscar Wilde.

Large gatherings of people and flowers mean yet another well known artist. Here is Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.

Nocturno en si bemol menor Op 9 n 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZbuA7r17uk

Felista with Chopin. She fits right in, doesn't she?

Someone tell that man not to feed the animals.

 Jean Carriès, French sculpture, ceramist, miniaturist.

One of his miniatures.

Me taking a picture of Pete taking a picture.

French writer, Colette. This lady created quite a stir.

But then, that is the job of the writer, the artist, isn't it? An artist, that is, of merit shows what is happening truthfully, honesty, and lets biases by biases. People will have their biases. It is not the artist's job to be concerned with those sorts of things. 

Crematorium.

Photos contributed by Pete and Mike Murray, and Felista.