Père Lachaise

Père Lachaise is one of the three major cemeteries in Paris and holds the remains of essentially every French person whose name you sort of recognize but have no idea why.  Famous politicians, writers, philosophers, musicians etc. Not to mention generations of families as well as a few famous foreigners.

Although the main attraction is of course humming Gloria while standing next to Jim Morrison's grave, bringing a rose for Edith Piaf and smooching Oscar Wilde (Spoiler Alert: Unfortunately, the city of Paris recently erected a giant glass wall around Oscar's tomb to protect it from saliva vandals like myself), the real draw of Père Lachaise is the ambiance.  

Pulling a Bernie Engel at Oscar Wilde's Tomb

Back in the States, I always feel on edge in a cemetery...like I want to get out as fast as possible. Maybe it's because I have watched Buffy one too many times, but I always get the feeling that the undead may pop out and try to eat my brains or something.   On the contrary, the cemeteries in Paris seem to celebrate rather than mourn the people buried there.  It's literally like taking a walk through history.  From famous Frenchmen to mausoleums that house generations and generations of the same family, nostalgia is the dominant sensation that one gets when visiting.  

Sarah Bernhardt

Edith Piaf

This place is so uniquely Parisian, I would advise anybody to take a quiet morning and just explore, you really never know who you will stumble upon next.  Chopin? Balzac? Haussmann?