Paris; Day 4...Pere Lachaise

Genna at Pere Lachaise.

Today we had a very slow and relaxed morning, some of us are still adjusting to the time change and hey, we are on vacation.
We decided to take the metro to our destination. It was an easy ride with only one transfer and the true Parisian experience of a full metro car.

Pere Lachaise is the largest cemetery in the city, covering 110 acres, that is a lot of dead people. I had never been here. There are famous people buried here as well as very cool funereal art.

Random old grave.

The owl of Death.

Mary the vampire with Christ.

Chopin's Grave

 

Reflections on life after death...

We got hungry from all the wandering around and left the cemetery in search of sustenance.
It was such a beautiful day we brought our treats back to picnic with the dead.

I had a quiche with leeks.

 

Flying skeleton with trumpet.

Heloise and Abelard, together at last.

Genna had not heard the story of Heloise and Abelard, so I gave her the "Cliff Notes" version.

The question most asked when someone hears you have been to Pere Lachaise...

...have you been to Jim Morrison's grave ?? It became such a place of unwanted revelry and vandalism that there are barriers around it and a guard. There were also a lot of young American tourists on pilgrimage.

To give us energy for our walk back to our flat we had the pastries we had purchased easier.

At a small but new looking park we saw this dove cote.

We couldn't understand why the Parisians felt the need to help the pigeons. Turns out when we read the little green sign in the right of this photo, that is a pigeon contraceptive station. Yes, that's right, birth control for the birds !!

 A weekly crafts market at the Place De La Bastille had these cute new uses for old cutlery.

As we crossed the Seine I noticed the facade of this VERY famous restaurant:La Tour D'Argent. 

The dining room is up five or six stories with magnificent views down the Seine. My father took us there for my parent's 25th wedding anniversary soon after we arrived in Paris. At the time it had three Michelin stars, the most a restaurant can achieve.

This was the unassuming front of what looked to be an organic market.

They are very specific about where you can and cannot sit on the grass in all Parisian park.
This is authorized grass and as we headed home the Parisians were taking full advantage of it.

Dinner was a scrumptious roasted chicken and potatoes from the "boucher" next door. I will try to get photos. This was truly a full service store, where the butchers had beautiful knife skills and cut all the meat to the customer's exact instruction. It was great to watch.