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Day of the Dead, part II
Jun. 11th, 2002 10:35 pmIf Sherlock Holmes were around, he would be able to tell, by the clay on my sandals and the faint deposit of silt in my hair, where I spent at least part of my day. Since he isn't, I have to tell you myself.
Not content with simply visiting only some of Paris's famous dead, I headed over to the Montparnasse cemetery. It's not nearly as interesting as the Pere Lachaise one; everything is too orderly and all the tombs are arranged in neat rows. Also, most of the people listed on the cemetery map, that is the ones who are supposed to be famous, I'd never heard of. They must be national French heroes or something. I did, however, visit Jean-Paul and Simone, Baudelaire and Serge Gainsbourg. Camille Saint-Saens is in there somewhere, but I didn't find him.
After that, I visited some far more numerous but not quite as illustrious dead. The catacombs! Wonderful place. Bones are piled up along walls with skulls sitting on top, and it seems there are between five and six millions dead Parisians down there. They're very silent, lying so close together behind Latin and French quotations about death. I'm glad I had brought my flashlight with me, I wouldn't have been able to read them all. So the clay of my sandals comes from exploring twenty feet underground, and the silt in my hair from being dripped on by Parisian stalactites.
I also poked arond the Galleries Lafayette a bit, because A-L is a snob who only uses imported French beauty products, and found a bookstore with manga. Then I went over to the Luxembourg garden and wrote in my journal while sipping on a kir. I love Paris.
After that, it was nearing seven and I was tired, so I dragged myself back to my room at the youth hostel. A Canadian, a Korean and an Irishman were sitting in a hostel room... could be the start of a joke, but it's a reality in hostels. It's lot of fun talking about national anthems with people from all over (we got to that topic after discussing France's loss in soccer today).
If any of you besides my mother were worrying about my knee, worry no longer, it feels fine. My feet are sore, but that's what comes of walking around all day.
Only two days left...
Not content with simply visiting only some of Paris's famous dead, I headed over to the Montparnasse cemetery. It's not nearly as interesting as the Pere Lachaise one; everything is too orderly and all the tombs are arranged in neat rows. Also, most of the people listed on the cemetery map, that is the ones who are supposed to be famous, I'd never heard of. They must be national French heroes or something. I did, however, visit Jean-Paul and Simone, Baudelaire and Serge Gainsbourg. Camille Saint-Saens is in there somewhere, but I didn't find him.
After that, I visited some far more numerous but not quite as illustrious dead. The catacombs! Wonderful place. Bones are piled up along walls with skulls sitting on top, and it seems there are between five and six millions dead Parisians down there. They're very silent, lying so close together behind Latin and French quotations about death. I'm glad I had brought my flashlight with me, I wouldn't have been able to read them all. So the clay of my sandals comes from exploring twenty feet underground, and the silt in my hair from being dripped on by Parisian stalactites.
I also poked arond the Galleries Lafayette a bit, because A-L is a snob who only uses imported French beauty products, and found a bookstore with manga. Then I went over to the Luxembourg garden and wrote in my journal while sipping on a kir. I love Paris.
After that, it was nearing seven and I was tired, so I dragged myself back to my room at the youth hostel. A Canadian, a Korean and an Irishman were sitting in a hostel room... could be the start of a joke, but it's a reality in hostels. It's lot of fun talking about national anthems with people from all over (we got to that topic after discussing France's loss in soccer today).
If any of you besides my mother were worrying about my knee, worry no longer, it feels fine. My feet are sore, but that's what comes of walking around all day.
Only two days left...
