Cimitère du Père-Lachaise

Cimitère du Père-Lachaise Review

Press a lipsticked kiss to Oscar Wilde's tombstone or bring a red rose for "the little sparrow" Edith Piaf—the cobblestone avenues and immense trees make the 118-acre cemetery a worthwhile trip. Named for Pére François de la Chaise, Louis XIV's confessor, Père-Lachaise has some political history attached to it—it was the site of the Paris Commune's final battle on May 28, 1871, when 147 rebels were lined up and shot against the Mur des Fédérés (Federalists' Wall) in the southeast corner.

HIGHLIGHTS

Aside from the sheer aesthetic beauty of the cemetery, the main attraction is what (or who, more accurately) is belowground. Here's a list of grave sites you won't want to miss:

1. Pierre Abélard (1079-1142), French philosopher, lover of Heloïse

2. Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), French writer

3. Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), French actress

4. Georges Bizet (1838-75), French composer

5. Maria Callas (1923-77), Greek-American opera singer

6. Frédéric Chopin (1810-49), Franco-Polish composer

7. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954), French writer

8. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), French painter

9. Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), French painter

10. Max Ernst (1891-1976), German painter

11. Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), French painter

12. Stéphane Grappelli (1908-97), French jazz violinist

13. Baron Haussmann (1809-91), French civic planner

14. Sedegh Hedayat (1903-51), Iranian writer

15. Heloïse (1101-62), scholar, lover of Pierre Abélard

16. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), French painter

17. Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920), Italian painter

18. Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelina) (1622-73), French playwright and actor

19. Yves Montand (1921-91), French/Italian actor and singer

20. Jim Morrison (1943-71), American musician

21. Victor Noir (1848-70), French journalist

22. Edith Piaf (1915-63), French singer

23. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), French painter

24. Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French intellectual and writer

25. Giaocchino Rossini (1792-1868), Italian composer

26. Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-91), French painter

27. Simone Signoret (1921-85), French actress

28. Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), American writer

29. Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967), American writer

30. Louis Visconti (1791-1853), French architect

31. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish writer

32. Richard Wright (1908-60), American writer

Tips

Pinpoint grave sites on the Web site before you come, but buy a map anyway outside the entrances—you'll still get lost, but that's part of the fun. Don't be surprised to see locals hanging out on benches, feeding the feral cats.

Note that the two biggest draws are Jim Morrison's grave (with its own guard to keep Doors fans under control) and the life-size bronze figure of French journalist Victor Noir, whose alleged fertility-enhancing power accounts for the patches rubbed smooth by hopeful hands.

One of the best days to visit Père-Lachaise is on All Saints' Day (November 1), when Parisians en masse bring flowers to adorn the graves of favorite dead celebrities.