on our first Sunday in Paris we headed across town to visit Père Lachaise Cemetery…
established in 1804 it has the distinction of being the first garden cemetery which is a style of burial ground that uses landscaping in a park-like setting…
it was a gorgeous sunny blue sky day and we wandered for hours…
and managed to find Jim Morrison‘s grave site with its make shift barricades that people still seem compelled to go beyond (our photos are full of shadows)…
formerly called Cemetery of the East it is the largest park and cemetery in the city of Paris on 110 acres with about 5,000 trees…
there were views of the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower with the help of our telephoto lens (we also found France’s beloved Edith Piaf’s grave)…
“The cemetery’s hilly terrain and tree-lined avenues are at once overcrowded, peaceful, and seductive. Sculptures abound, and the tombs run the gamut from simple, flat, horizontal headstones to elaborate mini-chapels open to the public. Some of the tombs are immaculately cared for, others dilapidated and abandoned.” –Encyclopedia Britannica
our visit inspired two more pages in my French Travel Journal (the photo above is not altered it was a reflection looking thru a tiny monument window)…
using some of our photos and a couple of pressed daisies we picked in another park in Paris…
I am joining in with the Art Journal Journal IN MY GARDEN THERE IS… and the Moo Mania & More PARIS challenges…
Magpie's Nest ~*~ Patty Szymkowicz 