Paris, France: Le Pere Lachaise

Le Pere Lachaise might be the most interesting cemetery in the world, at least in terms of who is there.You can't walk more than 50 feet, it seems, without bumping into someone famous.

Oscar Wilde. Edith Piaf. Frederic Chopin. Marcel Proust. Maria Callas. Max Ophuls. Gertrude Stein. Rafael Trujillo. Stephan Grappelli. And that doesn't include a bunch of people who are well known in France but not here.

Still, the biggest draw is an American. Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the rock group The Doors, died in his 20s and is buried here. His grave is behind a fence, but people still leave gifts for him as you see in the photo.

It's the largest cemetery in Paris, and the place is just jammed. I'm not sure there's room for many more people, but it looks like someone said the same thing 50 years ago.

One tip - you can buy a map of the place by street vendors for 2.50 Euros. Do it. It is a great investment.

Here's a video version of a tour from Rick Steves:



Be notified of new posts on this site via Twitter @WDX2BB.