We got to escape to Paris for a long weekend and meet up with my mom & sister, Liz!
I'm going to say this right away...this is going to be a deluge of photos, so prepare yourself. I took a lot of pictures during the trip and it has taken me forever to decide which ones are keepers and which to discard. I finally settled on how to edit them and am happy with the end results. The problem I'm having now is that I like almost all the images equally in color and black and white, so you're getting a smattering of both.
We packed light, only took backpacks, so we could spend the day running around. We landed at 8 am and couldn't check into the hotel until 2pm, so it was a smart move for us. After landing and getting our metro passes purchased we boarded our train and were on our way into town. We headed straight for Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It was somewhere I've wanted to go for some time and Trent was surprised how much he enjoyed it as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself because first we ate breakfast....
Ok, back to Pere Lachaise. If I'm being completely honest, cemeteries creep me out. They aren't places I like to go for a stroll or hang out in. This place was a game changer for me. I've never seen anything like it. It's 110 acres of utter coolness! I liked everything about it. When you walk through the gates it's like walking into another city, within the city. Their is a main boulevard and smaller side avenues and alley's all over. The plots are all arranged by street and they actually have little street signs. We were given a map that told where people of note were buried and that was that...time to get lost!
Some of the gravesites were simple while others far more grand and ornate. You can tell which families are wealthy just by their monument. Most of the monuments were smallish, about the size of an airplane bathroom with a little altar to say a prayer or have a visit. I read somewhere that you have to lease the plots at Pere Lachaise. When your lease runs out, if your family doesn't renew then out you go to make room for the next! I'm pretty sure they remove the bodies and inter them elsewhere in the cemetery. Kind of a strange reality, but there you have it.
I thought the arcitecture and artisitry throughout the cemetery was phenomenal. It was fun and interesting to wander around. The monuments and tombs were beautiful to see and we were there on a cloudy, chilly, fall day, so the colors were vibrant and the mood somber...
We hunted down a few famous graves: Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde (but we couldn't see his grave because it was covered up for renovation), Isadora Duncan & Rossini
The grave for Jim Morrison was the most interesting. It's nestled up and they left this tree and lamppost there. Nice ambiance. Well wishers or pilgrims have filled the trees bark with messages and song lyrics.
Chopin's grave marker was simple and beautiful.
After we were through with our wanderings, we headed back to the center of town to find our hotel. By this time the weather had gotten quite cold and we were frozen, so we stopped and got hot chocolate from a street vendor. Afterward, we found our hotel and enjoyed our view of the Invalides.
Later in the evening we wondered through the St-Germain neighborhood. I wish I'd taken my camera or gone back there during the day because it was a really neat place. We saw lots of shops, some new, some antique. The atmosphere was trendy and posh. We walked past the Rodan museum, but didn't have time to go in this trip. We were headed to a Vivaldi concert we had tickets for. It was a quartet of musicians and they were really fabulous. It was held in the abbey of an old church, so the scenery was beautiful too.
Afterward we ate dinner at a restaurant, I've forgotten the name, but it was close to the St-Germain cathedral. We didn't know before going in, but inside the restaurant was spectacular! It felt like we stepped into a time warp, it was decorated in the art deco fashion with different levels for entertaining and dining. The details were fabulous. Everything from the lighting fixtures to the balustrades screamed circa 1920. I don't know how much of the place had been restored and how much was original, but it was a fun place to happen upon. We missed the live music night, but enjoyed our food and trent was able to have creme brulee...a perfect ending to a wonderful day.
I'm going to say this right away...this is going to be a deluge of photos, so prepare yourself. I took a lot of pictures during the trip and it has taken me forever to decide which ones are keepers and which to discard. I finally settled on how to edit them and am happy with the end results. The problem I'm having now is that I like almost all the images equally in color and black and white, so you're getting a smattering of both.
We packed light, only took backpacks, so we could spend the day running around. We landed at 8 am and couldn't check into the hotel until 2pm, so it was a smart move for us. After landing and getting our metro passes purchased we boarded our train and were on our way into town. We headed straight for Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It was somewhere I've wanted to go for some time and Trent was surprised how much he enjoyed it as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself because first we ate breakfast....
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| It ended up being a lot of food, but we shared and it was delicious! I'm sure part of it was the ambiance of a typical Parisian cafe, but we liked everything about our meal. The cafe was straight across from one of the cemetery entrances too, so we will be able to find it again if we ever go back. |
Ok, back to Pere Lachaise. If I'm being completely honest, cemeteries creep me out. They aren't places I like to go for a stroll or hang out in. This place was a game changer for me. I've never seen anything like it. It's 110 acres of utter coolness! I liked everything about it. When you walk through the gates it's like walking into another city, within the city. Their is a main boulevard and smaller side avenues and alley's all over. The plots are all arranged by street and they actually have little street signs. We were given a map that told where people of note were buried and that was that...time to get lost!
Some of the gravesites were simple while others far more grand and ornate. You can tell which families are wealthy just by their monument. Most of the monuments were smallish, about the size of an airplane bathroom with a little altar to say a prayer or have a visit. I read somewhere that you have to lease the plots at Pere Lachaise. When your lease runs out, if your family doesn't renew then out you go to make room for the next! I'm pretty sure they remove the bodies and inter them elsewhere in the cemetery. Kind of a strange reality, but there you have it.
I thought the arcitecture and artisitry throughout the cemetery was phenomenal. It was fun and interesting to wander around. The monuments and tombs were beautiful to see and we were there on a cloudy, chilly, fall day, so the colors were vibrant and the mood somber...
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We hunted down a few famous graves: Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde (but we couldn't see his grave because it was covered up for renovation), Isadora Duncan & Rossini
The grave for Jim Morrison was the most interesting. It's nestled up and they left this tree and lamppost there. Nice ambiance. Well wishers or pilgrims have filled the trees bark with messages and song lyrics.
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Chopin's grave marker was simple and beautiful.
 |
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After we were through with our wanderings, we headed back to the center of town to find our hotel. By this time the weather had gotten quite cold and we were frozen, so we stopped and got hot chocolate from a street vendor. Afterward, we found our hotel and enjoyed our view of the Invalides.
Later in the evening we wondered through the St-Germain neighborhood. I wish I'd taken my camera or gone back there during the day because it was a really neat place. We saw lots of shops, some new, some antique. The atmosphere was trendy and posh. We walked past the Rodan museum, but didn't have time to go in this trip. We were headed to a Vivaldi concert we had tickets for. It was a quartet of musicians and they were really fabulous. It was held in the abbey of an old church, so the scenery was beautiful too.
Afterward we ate dinner at a restaurant, I've forgotten the name, but it was close to the St-Germain cathedral. We didn't know before going in, but inside the restaurant was spectacular! It felt like we stepped into a time warp, it was decorated in the art deco fashion with different levels for entertaining and dining. The details were fabulous. Everything from the lighting fixtures to the balustrades screamed circa 1920. I don't know how much of the place had been restored and how much was original, but it was a fun place to happen upon. We missed the live music night, but enjoyed our food and trent was able to have creme brulee...a perfect ending to a wonderful day.
2 comments:
More, I want more! Go back to France so you can post about it again!
I am enjoying reading about your "fairytale" life in Europe right now and got especially jealous of your trip to the Algarve. I spent most of my mission in the Algarve. And I am so dying to go back....your pictures made me homesick.
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