It sounds morbid, but I like cemeteries. I like the way they make me feel. They possess a stillness and a beauty that make me feel both reflective and reverence.
Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to visit Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. It’s the most famous cemetery in Europe due to being the final resting place of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. There’s also the tomb of Victor Noir, which, if you haven’t seen it before, is very surprising indeed!
When I did finally visit it exceeded expectations, I could never have envisaged the sheer size of the place until I found myself at the gates, scratching my head and wondering what direction I should take.
However, Père Lachaise isn’t the only cemetery in Paris that you should visit. The Cemetery of Montparnasse, also known in French as Cimetière du Montparnasse, is another astonishing cemetery located in the ‘City of ‘Light’. Opened since 1842, it lies in the south of Paris.
Exploring Inside Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse is the final resting place of many artists and intellectual heavyweights. From sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (who designed the Statue of Liberty) to poet Charles Baudelaire, and from writer Samuel Beckett to photographer Man Ray, the list is long and illustrious.
Most famously, visitors come to pay their respects to singer Serge Gainsbourg, and philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.
Pick up a free map
The cemetery provides visitors with a free map, without collecting a map you’d have a hard time trying to find specific graves. The map pinpoints the location of notable graves in an easy-to-follow way so don’t forget to use it, particularly if you’re squeezed for time.
The cemetery is big, but not comparable to the size of Père Lachaise, so you won’t get lost and you should be able to navigate the grounds with relative ease.
Baudelaire | Writer & Poet
My first port of call was Baudelaire’s cenotaph. A ‘cenotaph means ’empty grave’ in Greek, and is erected in honour of a person who is buried elsewhere.
In Baudelaire’s case, the cenotaph was created because Baudelaire’s mother, against her son’s dying wishes, buried his remains in the family plot in Section 6 of the Montparnasse cemetery. There, top billing on the gravestone already had gone to politician Jacques Aupick, the poet’s deceased stepfather, a man he reportedly despised. To rectify the matter, devotees of Baudelaire commissioned this impressive and imposing cenotaph to ensure a more prominent place in Montparnasse, away from his family that he was estranged from.
The monument depicts Baudelaire on a vertical column looking sternly with his chin resting in both his closed fists. On the horizontal plane lies a depiction of the poet’s haunting body wrapped like a mummy, except for the head.
The only engraving is at the foot of the horizontal base and reads, “BAUDELAIRE”. I found it quite spooky but wholly in keeping with his persona, after all, he was also a prominent translator of Edgar Allan Poe, the father of Gothic literature.
Satre & Simone de Beauvoir | Writers, Philosophers, Activitists
Until visiting, I had no idea that Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir shared the same tombstone. They were together for 51-years, impressive by any standards. While they spent their lifetime together, its also romantic to know their closeness remains, in some way, after death.
Their surprisingly plain and pale coloured graves were both covered in kisses, a level of affection only surpassed by Serge Gainsburg’s resting place.
Serge Gainsburg | Singer
As I made my way to see the grave of Gainsburg, I noticed a group of sobbing girls surrounding his burial place. I knew he had a reputation with the ladies, and even after death, it seems it hasn’t diminished.
Serge Gainsbourg is culturally important in France and is considered an iconic figure in the country’s music and arts scene. Born Lucien Ginsburg in 1928, Gainsbourg was a singer, songwriter, actor, and director. His diverse talents, provocative lyrics, and unique style have left a lasting impact on French culture.
Outside of France, he is probably most well-known for his collaborations with other influential artists, including Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin. His lyrics and rebellious persona often stirred controversy, contributing to his image as a cultural provocateur.
Other Tombs of Note
I was also very surprised by how nondescript Susan Sontag and Samuel Beckett’s final resting place appeared. If you weren’t looking for them specifically, you’d easily miss them both.
In contrast to the plain graves of the famous, there are some incredibly elaborate tombstones of people I’d never heard of, let alone seen their names in writing.
Some of them were so eccentric, including a sculptural tombstone of a bird – a Roseate Spoonbill – which stuck out like a sore thumb in the best of ways. Death doesn’t always need to be doom and gloom, and this grave, with its quirky appearance and flowery feathers definitely appeared like a celebration of sorts.
I needed to know who this quirky tomb was attributed to, and discovered it belongs rather fittingly to a French painter, Gerard Barthelemy, 1938-2002.
Interestingly, when I look at examples of Barthelemy’s work, it appears very traditional, nothing like the radical impression you get from his quirky grave. However, I did find one painting he did online called Naked in a Studio which consists of Roseate Spoonbill, so I’m guessing there was something about this type of bird he loved! However, my guess is as good as yours!
Lasting Impressions
On the mid-week November morning I visited, Cimetière de Montparnasse felt very quiet and intimate. Old tombstones, little cobblestone streets, autumn trees, and ivy offered an idyllic respite from the busy Parisian streets. Bare trees and branches, and colourful fall leaves which lined the ground looked evermore sublime against the many Gothic sepulchral monuments.
Montparnasse Cemetery is one of the places where you can feel the romance of Paris – far from all the touristic hustle. This cemetery is a place to gather your thoughts, be still for while, and to be in the presence of so many great artists and writers of the last centuries.
Address: 3 Bd Edgar Quinet, 75014 Paris, France. Nearest metro stations include Edgar Quinet and Raspail, both just a couple of minutes’ walk away.
Recommended: If you’re looking for somewhere nearby to go afterwards, don’t miss Jardin du Luxembourg, one if Paris’ most beautiful parks.
Explore more unique cemetries around the world
