This is the largest cemetery within the city of Paris and a beautiful, very well-kept one, and aside from being the final resting place of hundreds of ordinary Parisians, its 118 acres contain the cherished remains of some of the world's greatest literary, artistic, scientific and political minds.

Honore de Balzac, Sarah Bernhardt, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Frederic Chopin, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Marcel Marceau are just a few of its revered occupants, and there can be few who would not be enraptured by the idea that one or two of them might return to the world of the living on occasion.

There are several days' worth of graves to explore here and a ghost story is attached to many of them. One of the best known is that of Marcel Proust and Maurice Ravel, whose ghostly forms are said to rise from their graves by night to seek one another, since their love was despised in their lifetimes and they were not allowed to be buried together. The red roses on Colette's grave are supposedly replenished by the spirit of Colette herself.

Some concentration camp victims are also remembered at Pere Lachaise, nameless but known worldwide for the suffering they endured. Their bodies were never recovered but their ghosts are nevertheless believed to haunt the peaceful memorials.

Written by  larapiegeler.

Add comment

Comments, reviews and questions

There are no posts. Why not be the first to have your say?

Add a comment, review or question

Make a comment Ask a question Write a review

Review title

Your comment

Your rating

Choose rating... Don't go Go Must go

Your name

Your email address