Ok, I know I know, going to cemeteries is a bit weird to some. But I really enjoy them, especially paying my respects to people who have greatly inspired me as an artist. My goal was to visit all the famous composers whom I just worship : Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, etc etc. Well, we are just going to have to plan another trip. We were able to visit two famous cemeteries in Paris, Pere Lachaise and Cemetery Montmartre.

At Pere Lachaise we visited Oscar Wilde (whose grave is whimsical and gorgeous), Georges Bizet (composer), Jim Morrison (that one is for my Mom, the eternal rocker), and my two favorites Frederic Chopin and Edith Piaf. Edith is the wonderful French chanteuse who sang “la vie en rose”, “padam, padam” and ” non, je regrette rien”. I listen to her music every time I bake. For those who know me know that’s a lot of Edith Piaf. Something about her music makes me feel alive.

The other person we visited was Frederic Chopin, the great composer. I have to admit, I got a bit teary eyed standing at his grave. My first real introduction to Chopin was when I started learning one of his Mazurkas for my performing arts high school audition. Many of my friends in my piano class played Chopin, from his Nocturnes to Etudes to Polinaises. I really don’t know anyone who does not like Chopin, and if they have never heard him before will fall in love soon after. I was so grateful to be able to visit his grave. And by the way, his body is in Paris, but his heart is in Warsaw, Poland.

Pere Lachaise

At the Montmarte cemetery we visited Adolphe Adam (ballet peeps know who this is), Hector Berlioz, Vaslav Nijinsky and Edgar Degas. Ok, I found out later that we were at the wrong grave for Degas, but that makes since later when you see the pic. Nijinsky’s grave is beautiful, someone had recently put some pointe shoes on the grave. It’s amazing and wonderful to see how people are still loved after they are gone. Not only famous people had flowers at their graves, but also loved ones of those who have passed, come and tidy up the gravesite and place flowers there. If we should all be so lucky to be loved once we depart our bodies.

“Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be music. And death a note unsaid.”

-Langston Hughes

Montmarte