Pere Lachaise in November is a delight.
Although this section of my Susan Cotton travels continued the study of cemetery aesthetics, the approach was somewhat different. Rather than the cerebral study of the layout etc that had dominated the earlier part of the trips, Pere Lachaise was to be an artistic exploration. I compiled a geek list of all the memorials I intended to visit. My top Five must sees where 1. Oscar Wilde (again) 2. Champollion 3. Moliere 4. Ingres and last but not least Chopin.
My interest in these particular memorials is rooted in my admiration for their ‘ inhabitants’ and in truth I was curious to see how representative of them their memorials would be. I Have visited Oscar Wilde’s grave before and never cease to be moved by the outpouring of emotion there is embodied in the small tokens that people have left. I was similarly overwhelmed at Chopin’s Memorial the devotion is both palpable and very visible. I took over 500 photos in Pere Lachaise, collected autumn leaves and ‘arranged’ natural found objects.
