A Pinay in Europe

Tombs, sepulchers and shrines

We commemmorate our dear departed today so let’s take a trip to the tombs and shrines of Paris.

Montmarte Cemetery

Guardian angel till after life

Passionate about rocks…

Tomb of a Russian countess

A Jewish tomb in mosaic

Edgar Degas, French impressionist painter

Son of Alexander Dumas, the author of “Count of Monte Cristo”.
The son was also a renowned author like his father

Jean Baptiste Greuze, French painter.

Pere Lachaise cemetery

Even death will not make them part. Tomb of husband and wife.

Pharaohs are not the only ones who can be buried in pyramids

Catacombs of Paris

Here are some very interesting facts about the catacombs of Paris:

- The portion of the catacombs open to the public is only a small part of an extensive network of underground tunnels, which spans more than 300km (about 186 miles) in length.

- Secret entrances do exist throughout Paris and it is possible to enter the catacombs via the sewers, metro, and certain manholes.

- Some unofficial visitors also hold keys to certain official entrances. On rare occasions people do make use of these access points and illegally enter the catacombs — for example, to meet clandestinely, to hold unusual parties, or simply as urban explorers. (Specifically, those who have an affinity for exploring the catacombs are known as cataphiles.)

- In September 2004, an underground movie theater run by the Mexican Perforation — a French artistic movement that seeks to convey their ideas using underground places — was discovered by the French police.
skulls.

Posing next to tombs
While sightseeing at the Pére Lachaise cemetery two years ago, I saw with my own two eyes two ladies in their early twenties photographing each other, posing like models next to, on top of or sitting on a tomb or sepulcher. If not for the spooky background, you would think their purpose in doing so was to produce stock photos for a magazine selling tombs or sepulchers.

Either they both have a necrophiliac tendency or they are really into the business of advertising cemeteries to distribute to Homes for the Aged or Care Homes.

Well, before I criticize others, I should start asking myself why the fascination in visiting two cemeteries and catacombs in Paris. But maybe I am just a natural lover of the arts in all its forms (like tomb architecture or bone arrangement).

The Shrine of Princess Diana

The Flame of Liberty is a monument offered by the United States to France in 1989 in gratitude for the restauration of the Statue of Liberty in New York. This memorial is a reproduction of the torch held by the statue which was created by Bartholdi, French architect and sculptor.

Today, it serves as a temporary shrine for Princess Diana who died of car crash on the tunnel below it (Pont de l’Alma).