James Gaston

Musée de la Musiqu..

Paris to Antwerp

Pére Lachaise 7 May 2026 Pére Lachaise 7 May 2026 Paris --

While "cemetery" brings to mind a grid of tombstones varying only in the engraving of the name, birth and death dates, and a few words of comfort, Paris has cemeteries that are nothing like my mental image, they are cities for ghosts (imaginary ghosts, unlike York's Halloween ghosts), with variably-sized plots, navigated via a loose grid of narrow paved streets, populated with structures that vary in size and shape (from stone slabs to phone-booth-sized enclosures to large meant-to-impress mansions), complete with gardens, statuary, and trees, lots of trees, trees in long rows whose spreading limbs fill the sky.

Pére Lachaise is the city's largest cemetery and it is out in the 20th arrondisement near the end of the metro's line 4. It is the third cemetery we've visited in Paris. Our first was the Passy, which we stumbled on back in 2021. This whet our interest and so we then checked out the Montparnasse cemetery. I might also mention we visited an above-ground cemetery in Buenos Aires some years ago, a much denser affair than even the Parisian versions, also a famous one for being the final resting place for Evita Peron.

Here are a few of the tombs that caught my eye while exploring Pére Lachaise. Note that this post requires a bit of bandwidth.

Oscar Wilde

... not even Wilde could have imagined that a glass barrier would eventually need to be erected around his tomb, at Père Lachaise Cemetery, in Paris, to protect it from the oscular adoration of pilgrims "Stephen Fry Is Wilde at Heart" in The New Yorker, 24 Nov 2025

Oscar Wilde

... not even Wilde could have imagined that a glass barrier would eventually need to be erected around his tomb, at Père Lachaise Cemetery, in Paris, to protect it from the oscular adoration of pilgrims "Stephen Fry Is Wilde at Heart" in The New Yorker, 24 Nov 2025

Oscar Wilde

... not even Wilde could have imagined that a glass barrier would eventually need to be erected around his tomb, at Père Lachaise Cemetery, in Paris, to protect it from the oscular adoration of pilgrims "Stephen Fry Is Wilde at Heart" in The New Yorker, 24 Nov 2025

Oscar Wilde

Some tombs attract followers who leave their mark, unfortunately. The Sartre and Bouvoir tombs at Montparnasse are littered with notes. The Jim Morrison tomb is covered with flowers. And then there is the Oscar Wilde tomb which, I have read, was covered with lipstick kisses until this glass wall was constructed.