MONTMARTRE CEMETARY

Paris, France

Montmartre Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the shutting down of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786, as they presented health hazards. In the early 19th century, several new cemeteries outside the precincts of the capital replaced all the old ones; Montmartre in the north, Père- Lachaise Cemetery in the east, Passy Cemetery in the west and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south. Located west of the Butte, near the beginning of Rue Caulaincourt in Place Clichy, the cemetery in the Montmartre is built below street level in the hollow of an old quarry with its entrance on Avenue Rachel under Rue Caulaincourt. The cemetery epitomizes the artsy, quixotic, gentle, almost whimsical Paris that every romantic visitor secretly cherishes. A popular tourist destination, it is the final resting place for many famous artists who lived and worked in the Montmartre area. A few of the famous buried in the Montmartre Cemetery are Edgar Degas, artist; Vaslav Nijinski, Russian ballet dancer; Emile Zola, author; Adolph Sax, inventor (saxophone).

The family visited the oldest son at Christmas, 2000 while he was studying architecture in Paris. We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Montmartre. We had a small suite with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The view of this part of the cemetery was from our living room window. We noticed in the Cemetery that Degas’ last name on the tomb was spelled, ‘de Gas, meaning ‘of gas’ in French. Humm. The low point of the trip was me being pick-pocketed three times while in Paris for the week. Pretty good . . .for them.