Existential Moments in Paris

I love cemeteries. I know this sounds absolutely morbid, but I promise it is not. They are beautiful places of self reflection, as well as homage to the lives of many. Cimetière de Montparnasse was the first place I found myself after lunch. It was the first thing I saw in Paris after getting off the train. I had no idea what a goldmine of awesome and deep thoughts were awaiting me.

This is how it went down:

Hmmm... I'm going to be arriving by train 6 hours before my friend Sofia can meet up with me. Google Maps, what is there around the train station that I can get to by foot? Cimetière... sounds awesome. Let's do it!

Little did I know what wonderful things were awaiting me!!!

Cemeteries in France are not like cemeteries anywhere else. The combination of history and culture and sculpture is fantastic. Walking through the cemetery today, I saw Catholic tombs, Jewish tombs, Chinese tombs, Muslim tombs, and many other nationalities burried side by side. The only requirement for most cemeteries here is being rich, especially in city... burried next to famous people. Interdespersed among the regular graves are little mini-mosoleums (spelling?). These are gorgeous monuments to life, with stained glass windows. Observe:

You can definitely tell who has the money and who doesn't when meandering through these places. Cemeteries here are a great place to find magnificent art. On the left is a take on a Rodin sculpture (ooh and aaah, it's okay), and on the right is a magnificent, tragic hommage to a fallen young man who sacrificed his life in the trenches of World War I:

The one below really REALLY spoke to me. It's a tomb with no name anywhere, but the sculpture is that of Orpheus turning back just at the entrance to Hades and losing his beloved Euridyce forever:

It makes me wonder who is resting here, what their life was like, and how they wanted the sculpure to speak to those who would come to visit the place in the future.

I wonder what I will put on my grave (if I have one) as a last tribute to who I was?

Some people really took the personal expression aspect of their tomb rather seriously, which is something that fills me with joy and makes the cemeteries so wonderful to walk around in. Here are two that really spoke to me.

The first was on a Jewish woman's grave:

This absolutely vulnerable position is so sublime and haunts you for the rest of your tour amongst the graves. Truly amazing.

This next one... I think it's a dissection of a bone... caught my eye immediately:

The inscription reads: Of our smile, guard the memory. Smile for us! So beautiful. Right behind it, on another tomb, is a marker that states: Live now through winter, through moments, through spring. Sculpture is not the only form of art that those who have died have chosen to leave behind.

All of this beauty was not the only thing that made this soujourn amongst the no longer with us absolutely magical. At the entrance of every large cemetery in France is a map, with the list and locations of all the famous people burried there marked out so eager visitors can find them more easily. I naturally went by this and found... SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR AND JEAN-PAUL SARTRE listed amongst the famous!!!

The joy that welled up in my soul cannot be expressed in any written manner. Once I get home, you can ask me for an interperative dance so you get the full experience of my feelings at that moment.

I ran out of the cemetery to the flower shop on the corner (note: ingenious marketing strategy) and purchased a half a dozen roses to pay my respects. Here is what the tomb of idols looks like:

Notice my lovely roses at the bottom. I also noticed that some people had payed the ultimate resepect Oscar-Wilde-gravesite style; leaving a kiss. So I DID!!!

Here's the proof:

My lips can be seen over the "I" in SIMONE (that pretty raspberry color). I have paid the ultimate respect to two of the most wonderful philosophers of the modern age. Appreication is well waranted, and I have left my mark.

More on Paris to come! I am spending a whole 9 more days here, so expect adventures.