Cimetière du Père Lachaise

I never would’ve thought of regularly visiting cemeteries until I came to Paris. But Cimetière du Père Lachaise is worthy of numerous visits: It’s beautiful and leafy, and there are dozens of famous people buried there, so you can go and pay your respects to some of the great masters of art science, music and philosophy. The French like to bury in style, and a plot at this particular cemetery will set you back like, a lot. So much so that some people are just buried there temporarily, and then removed later because they can’t keep up with the rent.

There are maps at the entrance which will tell you where the celebrities are buried. Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are amongst two of the most famous residents, and will be easy to spot from some distance from the crowds. They’ve made a vague attempt to block off Morrison’s flower-strewn grave, not that it prevents his biggest fans jumping the barriers to add their own flowers, toss him a cigarette or leave him a can of beer.

Oscar Wilde’s grave is marked with a huge statue. I’m not going to lie: I’m pretty sad about the fact that they’ve protected this monument by erecting a big perspex screen around it. A couple of years ago, it used to be covered in snatches of his philosophy, such as ‘All art is quite useless’ and ‘What is a dreamer?’ and hundreds of lipstick kisses – a decade-long tradition they have finally put an end to because of the damage to the sculpture. So enjoy the photo I took before they succeeded.

Cimetière du Père Lachaise is located in the 20e.