Montparnasse petit

OK so you've seen the biggest portion of Montparnasse, but there's still plenty of cool things to see in the small, or "petit" sid eof the cemetery, that portion on the other side of Rue emile Richard:

Pere Lachaise in less than 5 minutes

Montparnasse Grande

Some of my favorite images from the larger portion of Montparnasse cemetery (Montparnasse grande):

The Cats of Montmartre

Of all the major cemeteries in Paris, for some odd reason Montmartre is home to a significantly large population of cats.

You can find these skittish felines in Pere Lachaise of course, and I have seen one or two in Montparnasse, but it is at Montmartre that they seem to congregate in large numbers. Perhaps Montmartre has always been lenient and understanding towards the marginalized elements of society. After all that's what gave the neighborhood it's cachet early on, the saloons, dives and dance halls that peppered the hillside among the abandoned windmills, and to some extent remains one of its most endearing features.

Montmartre cemetery

Located at the end of tiny Rue Rachel Montmartre cemetery is a place of refuge not only for the dead but also for the living: the folks seeking a moment or two of solitude in their lives. Go on, find out for yourself. . .