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Paris, Part 5

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Morning brought us into the charming breakfast room once again. Norah brought us hard boiled eggs.

An egg cup!

And my favorite lamp was to my left:

We got on the Metro – where an elderly man was playing La Vie en Rose on an accordian in our car – and headed for Pigalle where there is a small street full of guitar shops. Don wanted to practice just a bit and a shop owner kindly let him play for about a half hour.

Pigalle itself can be rather seedy, depending on where you are. After Don was finished, we walked up a hill and found the famous Moulin Rouge.

Then we walked some more and saw a sign for the Cimetière Montmartre and headed in that direction. We love old cemeteries. We’ve yet to see Cimetière du Père Lachaise – that will be for another trip – but this cemetery is very, very old, and is on a hill, with each level going higher and higher.

We wandered around, looking at the beautiful monuments and graves, each one telling a story about someone who lived here in Paris, often in Montmartre itself, and passed away.

La Goulue, who was part of the invention of the famous can-can and danced at the Moulin Rouge. When we looked up her story, we found it was ultimately tragic. She was a huge star and known as the Queen of Montmartre. She was one of the favorite subjects of Toulouse-Lautrec. Eventually, she left the Moulin Rouge, invested her money in a traveling show that featured her and lost all her money. She was destitute and an alcoholic and ended up selling peanuts on a corner in Montmartre. She died at the age of 62.

A stray cat.

Famous composer Hector Berloz is buried here.

Nadia Boulanger is buried here. She was a composer, conductor, and teacher. Among the many students that traveled to France to study with her were Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Darius Milhaud, Daniel Barenboim, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, and Michel LeGrand. I’ve seemingly always known about her so visiting her gravesite was important to me.

She was a formidable force in music, as was her sister, Lili, who tragically died very young in 1918. Nadia was the first woman to conduct major orchestras in both Europe and America, among them; the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony. She lived to the age of 92.

I found her gravesite very moving.

Also buried in the cemetery, the famous ballet dancer Nijinsky.

One of his most famous roles: Petrouchka. Amazingly, before we had a chance to research it, I told Don I thought this sculpture might be of Petrouchka, and I was right. Amazing what little factoids stay in my brain. His story is also tragic, but I’ll let you look that up.

He was a star, the greatest male dancer of the early 20th Century. He was also a choreographer, choreographing Le Sacre du Printemps – The Rite of Spring – by Stravinsky.

Again, I was honored to be in his presence.

And finally, we made sure to visit a hero of ours, François Truffaut.

A brilliant director, he died too young at the age of 52.

We left two metro tickets on his grave in honor of his movie, The Last Metro.

Also buried in the cemetery: Edgar Degas, the painter; Alexandre Dumas fils, the writer; Marie Duplessis, French Courtesan and the inspiration for La Dame aux Camélias by Dumas fils, one of her lovers, which ultimately inspired Camille. She was also believed to be the lover of Franz Liszt. She died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis.

Foucault, of Foucault’s pendulum, is buried here, as well as the playwright Feydeau, whose farce,  A Flea in Her Ear,  was playing at the Comédie-Française while we were there. Jacques Offenbach, the composer, is buried there. Stendahl, the author, is buried there, as well as Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone.

It’s quite amazing. And very moving.

A lady comes and feeds the stray cats. We happened to be in standing right where she appeared, calling out to the cats, who came very quickly.

Here they are, obviously well fed:

We spent about three hours at the cemetery. The fact that we just happened on it made it even lovelier.

After our visit to the Cimetière, we grabbed a cab and went to the café where we had those great veggie burgers. Then we made one more stop here,

where I bought one more book and a tote bag with their logo.

We ended up in our favorite place, the Jardin du Luxembourg.

For a little Pétanque.

That night, our upstairs ‘neighbors,’ who had to be the loudest people on earth, kept me awake for hours. There was lots of noise, in addition to some vigorous and seemingly endless moaning accompanied by the sound of bed springs moving so fast that I thought they might crash into the room. It went on forever. I never complain about that kind of thing, but I did this time. I was not a happy camper. Our friend at the Front Desk spoke to them – though they were Russian and spoke very little French – and the next night was better.

More tomorrow, when we visit a Farmers Market, a beautiful shop, Ladurée for some macarons, the Seine, the Comédie-Française, and some miniature shops.

Happy Tuesday.

Comments

  1. Morning Claudia,
    My son a few years ago gave me a book called Nijinsky. I had not heard of him but I love all the arts. I loved, loved, loved the book and thanked him many times. When I saw he was buried there and saw your picture of his headstone, I was so grateful you took that photo. I had already read and heard of Stravinsky so it was very fitting.
    Thank you for taking me to Paris with you!!!
    Marion

  3. Cemeteries are interesting places….this one especially for you and Don. Those cats do look well cared for…nice. I love the laid back self-guided tours you are taking. And…you have plans for your next return trip…keeping the dream alive!

    I did get a good laugh over your upstairs neighbors….I’m sure you weren’t laughing at the time…maybe now? Enjoy your day! ;)

    • Oh my lord, it was loud. I really did think the bed would come crashing through the ceiling. Then I thought “They’re done!”
      And then it started up again.

      Thanks, Donna!

  4. I kinda love cemeteries. Seems they are usually cool, quiet, unpeopled places—my favorite. Fancy fonts, patinaed and moss-encrusted marble, metals, and stone, too! What’s not to like? Such a fun trip you’ve had. Love your great shots of beautiful places!

  5. Bonjour Claudia,
    Concernant la pétanque, savez-vous qu’il y a plusieurs clubs de pétanque à New York ?
    Belle journée à vous deux. (ici il pleut)

    • I don’t know if there are any clubs in NY, Helene. I do know that Bocce Ball is played around the city, which is similar to Petanque.

      Merci, Helene!

  6. Pigalle was the place we found ourselves lost in around midnight one night. It is NOT the place for tourists at night and I’m very grateful for the local who gave us perfect directions to our hotel. We also spent quite a lot of time in the cemetery at Monmarte. It is a humbling and moving place to visit. Visiting such a place is a reminder that at the end of it all, no matter how talented or famous, rich or poor, we all leave this earth at some point. May we be remembered well.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

    • Ah, that makes sense. I already knew it was to be avoided at night. Luckily we were there during the day. Even still, you can tell it functions as a red-light district.

      Thank you, Betsy!

  7. Thank you, for sharing beautiful Paris. The wonderful photos you take make my day so much better.
    It brings back my own wonderful memories..

    Have a wonderful day,

    Kaye

  8. Thank you, thank you, for allowing me to follow along on your lovely holiday. I have a question. Is Paris a safe place to travel for a single, older woman? My dream is to just go for a week, by myself. I don’t speak French but do speak a bit of Italian. I haven’t flown in over 40 years so I know that would be an experience in itself! If I don’t do this now, I probably never will, and your photos have further inspired me!

    • I would go there by myself and not be worried. Just as in any city, there are some areas that are to be avoided at night (Pigalle, for instance) and there are pickpockets. But I’ve never felt unsafe there. I’m sure that most Parisians would be very helpful with directions and most travel guides reference safe places and places to be avoided. We’ve been down by the Seine at night a lot and there are always lots of people around and it seems very safe, Suzanne.

  10. Oh, this is so much fun, Claudia! I am enjoying your trip immensely. Thank you for sharing
    the wonders of Paris with us.

  11. Thank you, Claudia, so very much for these photos and what you wrote about them, as well as your trip. Thank you so much for sharing with us. I was especially moved to see the grave of La Goulue! As a fan of Toulouse Lautrec, that was so interesting to see and read about. Something I never would have known about or seen. Also, your photos are wonderful, I love how you show details.

    Thanks again so much,
    Alice

  12. Isn’t the cemetery at Montmartre wonderful? I first happened upon it on a rainy day with blogger Peter of Peter’s Paris. We’d just finished lunch and he said, “Would you like to see this?” Well, of course! I remember the Berlioz (Rick and I were both impressed with that) and Offenbach, Fernando Sor and so many others. Some of the memorials are breathtakingly and heartbreakingly beautiful. And the cats! I had a spiritual experience with a cat there — though I don’t think I knew it at the time.

    Your trip is just marvelous. The boats in the park, the petanque, the guitar shops. Rick spent much of a day on Rue Edinburgh (I think) playing guitar in as many shops as were there! Oh, you bring back so many memories for me — and new experiences to savor in the future!

  16. I’m loving your Paris posts, Claudia! I seriously doubt, that a trip to anywhere in Europe, is in the financial cards for me … so thank you so much for sharing. I’m thoroughly enjoying every word, detail and beautiful photo!

  17. I love just coming upon things which turn out to be so rich! What a fantastic find the cemetery was! A lot of talent and history there. It’s quite beautiful, not a bad place to spend eternity and with good company. I love the resident cats and the fact that they are well cared for. It’s serendipitous that you found the Moulon Rouge and the Goulon (sp?) on the same day! And a rare treat that Don was able to play guitar in the music shop. Good advertising for the shop owner. I am so loving your adventure!

  18. loved every part of this post! the beauty. the pictures. the history. the healthy kitties guarding all the glorious tombs. the autumn leaves. your impressions and thoughts. and even the amazingly tireless and acrobatic Russian lovers! LOL. (sorry. I can laugh because I didn’t have to hear them!)
    can’t wait for your next post. xoxo

  19. What an interesting and beautiful cemetery! I think it’s common in Europe for people to take care of the stray cats. My cousin and his wife who now live in Istanbul, said there are well-fed and cared for stray kitties all over. The community as a whole takes care of them. I think that’s wonderful. I got a good chuckle out of your upstairs neighbors, though I can only imagine how annoying that would be when you’re trying to sleep! Perhaps they were on their honeymoon. ;-)

  20. That cemetery was fascinating. I love that you found so many graves of people you wanted to honor. So much history! Your story of the ‘loud’ neighbors reminds me of a story of my own. The night before my brother died I was in the motel room and next door they were loud, athletic and never ending. I kept saying, Really God. A joke on me. The next day my brother passed away in the hospice nursing home and I was lucky to move to a different hotel and spend the night with my daughter who flew in to be with me. Life is funny and not always ha ha funny,

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