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Adalbert is a forum for me, to post ephemera, photography, poetry, occasional travel notes, and various spontaneous motions. Cover photo: Parsonage where my great-grandfather spent his early years. Taken near Liegnitz, Silesia, ca. 1870. The "xothique" portion of the web address is a nod to Clark Ashton Smith's fictional continent of Zothique.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Père Lachaise

Jim Morrison's grave;  the wall at which some of the holdouts of the Paris Commune were executed May 28, 1871;  and Marcel Proust's gravesite.  Some elderly woman came up to me, speaking in Italian, I think.  All I could get out of what she said was JEEM Morrison, interspersed with other things.  I thought she was looking for his resting place, and pointed in the general direction.  She shook her head, walking off saying JEEM Morrison.  Later I acted as an ad hoc tour guide, directing some guys from Strasbourg, France to the spot -- and it was the first time I had visited Père Lachaise.  I also showed up with the right timing to witness a coffin unloaded from a hearse, and marched up the hill by pallbearers to the decedent's final sleep, just like in the movies.  I did not take a picture, due to not getting my camera ready fast enough respect for the survivors.
 

 
 

 
 


5 comments:

  1. I wish I had visited Pere Lachaise. There are some beautiful monuments.

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  2. Certainly the most impressive cemetery I've seen -- one of the most remarkable in the world I would imagine. Père Lachaise is also very large so can take some time.

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  3. I've been to Paris a few times when I was a kid, but we unfortunately never visited Pere Lachaise. Interesting photos, I still find it a bit strange walking around large graveyards looking for celebrities (I've done it myself a few times).

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  4. On seeing Proust's grave stone I was reminded of his ill health and his dying in his early fifties.
    He had so much talent, a great shame.

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  5. Rob, Père Lachaise is notable for its composers, musicians, artists, writers and so on, but also for its atmosphere throughout. Some of the other cemeteries are great in Paris, I hear. Not too far from Netherlands! Ray, Proust did die too soon, it seemed a lot of talented people in this cemetery had their lives cut short.

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