Paris Cemeteries

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Pere-Lachaise Postcards for sale

These cards come 10 to a pack, two copies of each image. Price is $25 per pack plus $3 shipping. Payable through PayPal: steve at stevesoper dot com.

All the photos were taken by Steve Soper. Produced on heavy postcard stock through Moo.com.

Belgian poet Georges Rodenbach in division 15

balloonists Croce-Spinelli and Sivel in division 71

political activist August Blanqui in division 91

Jules Le Win in division 93

Paul Doucherot in division 96

sample only -- typical address side; each card marked with grave name and location

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Juliette Recamier in division 30 Montmartre

When you see Juliette, tell her I said bonjour and will stop by and pay my respects the next time I'm in town. You have to look hard for Juliette at the cemetery in Montmartre -- ever modest even when she was the toast of Paris she's now quite elusive. You'll find her in Division 30.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Jean Racine the playwright is not the Jean Racine buried at Pere-Lachaise

I received an email the other day from someone asking about Jean Racine the playwright and whether he is the same Jean Racine buried in Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. It's a reasonable assomption; the Racine mausoleum in division 27 at Pere-Lachaise is dramatic in style and sumptuous in appearance.

Moreover, one should be forgiven for thinking of of France's great literary figures would be interred in one of the world's most famous burial grounds. After all, Racine's near-contemporaries Moliere and La Fontaine are buried in division 25.

But the simple fact is that the remains of great French playwright are in the church Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, a few meters from another great French cultural icon, Blaise Pascal.

So, next time you're in Paris and find yourself near the Pantheon go around to the rear and across the street and pay your respects. Oh, and you can also say bonjour to Sainte-Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris who, so it is claimed, single-handedly stopped Atilla the Hun from sacking the city in 451 AD.