Pere Lachaise Question
 

Hi. I may want to visit Cimetiere Pere Lachaise, if nothing else, to see Jim Morrison's memorial. Does anyone have a very detailed map, or great instructions, on how to get there? I hear you can get lost easily! I found a map that shows you have to go in main entrance, go down Casimir, and then Serre, but I'm not sure where I go from there, or if I have to get myself to Lesseps. Can anyone help? Thanks.

Hi ruth,

We were just there in April and found it with the help of the map available at the gate....free to all visitors. When you get close to the site, follow the many others also going there..we just asked people who were walking. It is a bit tucked away, but, so popular there is always someone coming or going.

There are detailed maps at the entrance.

Well, I was at Pere Lachaise in November, 2007 and I could NOT find Jim Morrison's grave.

The grave is far from the entrance to Pere Lachaise that is closest to Philippe August Metro stop.

Colette's grave is just a short walk away from this entrance.

Good luck.

Thin

About to post the same thing.
I don't know if the graffiti has been cleaned up.
I preferred Colette's grave.

I remember trying to find Jim's grave even with the map and I must have circled it for about 15 or 20 minutes before finally locating it, never more than a few meters from it the whole time. It's very modest and it doesn't surprise me that ThinGorjus couldn't find it since I almost didn't find it either. My last time to his grave must have been 6 or 7 years ago and there was plenty of graffiti as well as liquor bottles and tobacco offerings.

Morrison's grave is not that hard to find, but may be easiest to find by stumbling past it.

Oscar Wilde's grave is a bit more obvious.

We found it a year and a half ago without much trouble, but that may have been because I'd been there three times before and we followed the scent of weed to get there. It's not much to look at anymore - pretty run down and scruffy. It IS sort of hidden around an out-of-the-way corner, but the map does help.We were MUCH more interested in the graves of other people. We almost didn't find Chopin - he was the really hard one for us - but we persevered and finally located him.

Jim's grave is in the north corner of Divison 6. I believe it's a black rectangle tombstone and very low to the ground - very non-descript. I did see it once so the color is from memory.

If you enter through the main entrance, go to the first cross street and then to the right. Follow the sign for "conservation" to get a map (free) from the building adjacent to the toilets.

Look at the map legend and you will see Jim Morrison is in Division 6 (white numbers on a green field). There is also a "1" within a brown circle by his name (indicating his grave is popular). Within Division 6 on the map you will see the numbers 1, 2, 3 in brown circles. This is so you can locate different people who are in the same division. You will see that his grave is at the corner of Lauriston and Lesseps.

The Wikipedia article has a photo so you'll know what to watch for . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Morrison

Thanks, everyone! I DID find this map, and narrative, which hopefully will help me:
http://www.candelabratours.com/A-Par...bra-Tours.html

On the map at this site, it looks like the grave is on Lebruin, but the narrative explains that it's actually at the intersection of Lauriston and Lesseps. Since adrienne has confirmed that, I think I can find it. Now I'll have to go take a look at the photo ellenem mentions....

So I guess Jim's grave is cleaned up, but is there still a guard there to keep it that way? Does anyone know?

I'm a photographer, so I was wondering if there are any particularly beautiful areas of the cemetery, or particular monuments or graves, that I should try to locate?

Oh my gosh, I found the map was so hard to follow. But...just walking around the cemetery was such a great experience. Of course it helped that it was an unusually perfect spring day and the trees were flowering. At one point during my visit I was standing under a flowering tree and a soft breeze sent a shower of pink petals on me...magical. There are so many wonderful things to see in Père Lachaise and just the entire layout is a marvel.

BTW, we did see Jim Morrison's grave, it is tiny and tucked away. You'll likely find it as we just followed people to it once we were in the general area.

My favorite tomb was definitely Oscar Wilde, but also it was startling to stumble upon Balzac. And I loved seeing Piaf's grave.

You'll enjoy.

If you're going to visit Pere LaChaise, ride to Gambetta on the metro or a bus. Have a nice lunch. Then, pick up a map at a florist shop between the metro/bus stop and the northern entrance to the cemetery. These maps, for a few Euros, are FAR more detailed than those sketched in tour guides and online, which omit most of the lanes, along with many graves of interest, so you get lost very quickly. They're also oriented in the proper direction.

Pere LaChaise covers a steep and enormous hillside, so it's much better explored downhill than UPhill! Oscar Wilde is near the top, whereas Jim Morrison is at the bottom.

I concur with djkbooks, we went uphill and it was quite a workout. Though it was nice to have a downhill walk at the end of a long walk on a warm afternoon.

BTW, one more thing, Père Lachaise's cobblestone roads are quite, uh, rustic. Probably best to wear your most comfortable shoes here.

<i>I'm a photographer, so I was wondering if there are any particularly beautiful areas of the cemetery, or particular monuments or graves, that I should try to locate?</i>

You will find <b>tons</b> of inspiration for photographs.

JIm Morrison's grave is the one with a very bored looking guard standing nearby to ensure that it isn't trashed any more than it already is.

Since the documentary by Tom DiCillo "When You're Strange" just came out in France and is doing good business, I imagine that there will be throngs of new people at the grave for the next several weeks. (Excellent film, by the way.)

Thanks again for the advice. I guess starting at the top does make sense; I'm just afraid I won't have much time to wander around (and get lost!)so I'd have to choose only part of the cemetery to explore. However, we'll see! If I start at the top and kind of meander south without going off on too many tangents, about how long do you think it would take me? I don't HAVE to see all the famous graves...

Although I could spend all day there, I've taken friends through Lachaise, from top to bottom, in about an hour. That's assuming they only have one or two monuments or graves they really want to see, and are content seeing just whatever else they come across. For a photographer on a tight timeline, you might start up top, go by Oscar Wilde's much photographed grave, continue to the WWII and Communards memorial, then head downhill to Abelard and Heloise's site, and the work your way to Jim Morrison and the exit.

Heres a vid about the cemetary. When I was there they were alot of cats.are they still there?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10327034.stm