Saturday morning after breakfast, we were on our own again. We
took the metro up to Pere Lachaise cemetery and found some graves: Edit
Piaff, Gertrude Stein, Isadora Duncan, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Jim Morrison. The cemetery is huge. Great view of the city from up there, and
interesting stories about some of the "residents". It was noon
when we were done.
Next stop was Canal St. Martin for lunch at La Marine.
Good food and great people watching! We sat at the tables outside.
Walked along the canal a bit after lunch. Then it was the metro to Ille St.
Louis for Berthillion ice cream. The weather has been incredible the last
2 days, high 70's. Perfect for ice cream. After that, we walked to
the Latin Quarter and caught the metro back to the hotel for a little rest
before supper.
Taxi took us to Les Papilles for our 7:30 reservation. Food
was amazing. Cauliflower Soup, Roasted Lamb Shoulder with seasonal
vegetables (cooked a long time and very well-seasoned---I actually liked it!),
cheese plate with blue cheese and prune, pistachio panna cotta for dessert. Take the Metro home and one last twinkle of the ET as we walked home.
This was our eating area at the hotel.
"Pere-Lachaise became one of the world's most famous cemeteries when Jim Morrison died in 1971. Almost immediately Morrison's grave became a site of pilgrimage, and the place filled with tourists, most of whom you can avoid if you stay away from Morrison's grave."
"Oscar Wilde. The bluntly named avenue des Etrangers Morts pour la France (Avenue of Dead Foreigners, basically), leads you to the fantastical tomb of this gay 19th century wit and writer. The size of the member with which the artist equipped the statue was quite the buzz in Paris until a vengeful woman knocked it off."
"Gertrude Stein. The early-20th century writer and unlikely artistic muse shares a simple, double-sided tomb with her longtime companion, Alice B. Toklas."
The only word for it is strange structures also can be found in Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise. These seem to be related to WWII and the holocaust.
"Edith Piaf. The resting place of famed French songbird Edith Piaf, beloved by broken-hearted lovers everywhere."
More tombs.
"Isadora Duncan. The tragic death of this marvelous modern dancer is legendary --she favored long, dramatic scarves and convertibles, and one day one of those wrapped around the other and that was the end of Isadora."
View of Paris.
Frederic Chopin
Jim Morrison
Resting place for Heloise and Abelard the oldest residents in Pere Lachaise and their store is "timeless".
I don't remember the name of the square, but there were a lot of groups gathering and loud speeches were being given. And then the red bandana caught my eye on the statue. Typically protesters wear one across their face. I can only guess at the symbolism.
The Canal St. Martin
and lunch.
After lunch and another walk, we had some ice cream.
Typical parking in Paris. I don't understand how they get in and out.
On our walk back to the hotel.
Just a beautiful day!
After a little rest, we took a cab for dinner to Les Papilles.
Cauliflower Soup
Roasted Lamb Shoulder with seasonal vegetables
Cheese plate with blue cheese and prune
Pistachio panna cotta for dessert.
And some espresso.
Downstairs waiting area to use the one WC. Interesting.
This is really the last night shot in Paris on our way back to the hotel.
Another day, and another 9 miles of walking.
That was some la-di-da day
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