France/Spain 2011 - Day 5, Part 2 - Paris: Père Lachaise

"Friendship is being there when someone's feeling low and not being afraid to kick them." - Randy K. Milholland

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France/Spain 2011
Day 5 - 21st March - Paris: Père Lachaise (Part 2)

I left the crematorium and resumed grave hunting. Strangely, Jacques-Louis David had not been on the map I bought, so I'd relied on the much smaller one in the guidebook to locate it. I wasn't able to locate Ingres though.


Famille Pezon
The guy is riding the lion who ate him


Famille Leglise
He thinks he's Roman

Next was, if not the most famous tomb, then the most vandalised decorated tomb in the whole cemetery.


Decorated Tomb


*lipstick mark*
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"
*lipstick mark*
"La vie imite l'art bien plus que l'art n'imite la vie"
*lipstick mark*
"You're one of the few reasons I'm proud to be british"
*lipstick mark*
"Le plus important c'est de vivre, la plupart des gens se contentent d'exister"
*lipstick mark*


Useless sign: "Respect the memory of Oscar Wilde and do not deface this tomb. It is protected by law as an historic monument and was restored in 1992"

Actually I suspect Wilde would've been happy with the vandalism, as long as it was witty.


Another view of the tomb


Missing member


More grafitti at the back


This tomb thanks the guy's aunt


Prince Henry de La Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais 1921-1999
Given that both the Monarchy and Empire had long been abolished...


Victor Noir, shot by Prince Pierre Bonaparte
Find A Grave: "The notable protuberance in the victims trousers is regularly rubbed for luck by love-sick ladies, which explains why it always looks well-polished"


New life from old: André Gill


"André Guérard. Chévalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Lazare... de la Résistance"
("Knight of the Order of St Lazarus... of the Resistance")
The order was founded by the Knights Hospitaller


Famille Goukassow


Georges Bos


The Piaf family (of Edith fame)

There was a whole series of war graves and memorials.


"Aux déportes du camp de concentration de Flossenbürg et de ses 95 kommandos"
("To the deportees of the concentration camp of Flossenbürg and its [?] 95 Commandoes")


Mauthausen memorial: "Pour que leur sacrifice contribue à barrer jamais la route à l'oppression et à ouvrir à l'humanité la voie d'un avenir meilleur dans l'amitie et dans la paix entre les peuples. Souvenez vous"
("In order that their sacrifice contributes to the eternal barring of the way of oppression and to open to humanity the hope of a better age in friendship and in peace between peoples. Let us remember")

Never Again Auschwitz. Never Again Choeung Ek. Never Again Rwanda. Never Again Srebrenica. Never Again Darfur.


Memorial to the Spanish WWII dead
Given that it was officially neutral...




Neuengamme memorial: "Ils sont morts pour que nous vivions libres" ("They died so that we could live")
I find this interpretation questionable. It is sad to be killed, yes, but not all deaths are for a good cause.


More WWII memorials


[Deliberately?] Overgrown tomb
I think this had a caption of "God reunites". To which my response was: "If you believe in the same one anyway"




A tomb with ENGLISH on it: of Clara E Peabody, widow of Edward Bancroft (the latter, a name I recognised!)


My 2 most important takeaways from this grave:

i) "Le souvenir est l'âme de la vie" ("Memory is the soul of a life")
2) "Concession à perpétuité" ("Don't evict me!")


Marechal Suchet
One of Napoleon's marshals


Marshal/Prince Murat


Grave with throwaway chair - which apparently was part of the design




David d'Angers


Bare grave
Perhaps the newness had something to do with the design


Sepulchre Greffulhe




Jean de La Fontaine and Molière


"Chapelle"

There was a crazy guy running in the cemetery. With all the cobblestones.


Chopin


Me being lame at Chopin's grave
(I would've preferred Winter Wind, being less cliched, but I couldn't find it in my phone even though I was sure I'd put it there)


Rachel, party to the best exchange of amorous intentions in history:

"Où ? Quand ? Combien? " (Where? When? How much?)
"Chez toi. Ce soir. Pour rien" ("At your place. Tonight. For nothing")
(it lasted 6-7 years)

I gave up on Comte, Poulenc, Morrison and Heloise & Abelard since it was already noon and there were other things I wanted to do this day. Besides which, I didn't care for Morrison.