Halloween. That perfect time of year to take a trip to the local cemetery to enjoy a beautiful autumn afternoon. On Saturday, we paid a visit to Père Lachaise cemetery, the largest and most famous in Paris. The timing was purely coincidental, as we've been wanting to visit Père Lachaise for a while now, but hadn't had the chance. Père Lachaise was opened for business by Napoleon in 1804, and is now the final resting place of many famous people who either lived or died in Paris, including Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Molière, Balzac, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, and many more. Apparently there are now over 1 million people buried there, and it is still an active cemetery accepting new burials - unlike the permanence we have after death in our cemeteries in the United States, Père Lachaise has a practice of issuing standard 30-year leases on grave sites (although they can also be purchased for 10 or 50 years, or if you're flush with cash, in perpetuity). If the lease is not renewed by the family, the remains can be removed, leaving space for a new grave. Abandoned remains are boxed, tagged and moved to Aux Morts ossuary in Père Lachaise cemetery. Practical, if not a bit unsettling.
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AuthorBecause why not get married and move to Paris to really kick off your thirties? Archives
December 2016
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