Went to Pere LaChaise Cemetery today. It's where tourists go. Picked out what we thought was the quickest route. Ended up changing trains in a very large underground station. I can't even guess how many turns we took,tunnels we walked through, stairs we climbed, and escalators and people-movers we rode. By the time we got to the cemetery we were ready for a long rest. We did find Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison and Molier. The monuments are large and elaborate.
There was a lot of police activity (about 30 vehicles and a major traffic jam) near our apartment (no one tell my mother). We are right near the Sorbonne and the students are protesting some new policies. As our waitress in the cafe said "The students are on strike. The French love their strikes. In Paris, there's always a protest". One reason may be that the students, chanting, with hands joined to form a long chain, seemed to be having quite a good time.
After today's Metro adventures I found a website that is the Mapquest of public transportation. Enter your starting and ending point, specify bus or Metro, shortest route or fewest connections, and it tells you what to do. Why isn't that in the guidebook? We have no printer so I photograph instructions right from the screen.
OK, so why is Jim Morrison buried in France?
ReplyDeleteHey Steve. Morrison didn't have a round trip ticket home. Actually he had been living in Paris under an assumed name. He was trying to get his life together, even jamming with street musicians, but ended up dying of a drug overdose at age 27. The director of the cemetery refused to take him until his friends said that he was a writer. Then they found a space.
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