The Jetpacker

It was a gloomy day in Paris.  And what do you do when it’s gloomy?  You visit a cemetery of course!

Pére Lachaise Cemetery is located in the 20th arrondissement and is named after Père François de la Chaise, who was confessor to Louis XIV in the 17th century.

Of all the cemeteries in the city of Paris, Pére Lachaise is the largest, the most famous, and supposedly the most visited in the world.  It’s home to such famous stiffs as Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison (pictured below).  It’s also home to pickpockets, and you can read about our experience with one would-be-thief here.

Despite the dead trees, the eerie silence, the empty footpaths, the occasionally creepy tomb, and the notion that you’re surrounded by corpses, the Pére Lachaise Cemetery is a pretty cool place to wander around.

It’s like a macabre musuem.  Instead of pristine statues we get rusty busts.  Instead of opulent monuments we get unusual crypts.

It’s kind of like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, except without the convenience of the people-moving buggies.  Those sure would come in handy because this place is huge.

It’s 109 acres crammed with over 200 years worth of countless graves, crypts and monuments.  Some areas are so crowded with headstones and statues, it’s nearly impossible to walk around.

We enjoyed our visit to Père Lachaise, but if you’ve only got a few days in Paris, it can be skipped in favor of other destinations like the Lourve, Eiffel Tower and Montmartre, and saved for when you have a little more time in Paris.