What Lasts

La Grise (the grey) has settled in nicely in Paris these couple of days. Usually I would be really depressed when it's rainy all the time, but the cloudy sky created the perfect thoughtful mood during my visit to the Montparnasse Cemetery today. Serving as the final resting spot for many of France's brightest minds and most well-known characters, I paid homage to composer Camille Saint-Saens first, while listening to his music, then Serge Gainsbourg.

As I went searching for other luminaries, along the way I found many beautiful, eccentric tombstones, if you could even call them that.

LEFT: Dedicated simply to "Ricardo, our big friend," this mosaic cat made me smile. 
CENTER: Resting spot of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, perhaps two of the best-known philosophers of the 20th century, also lovers.
RIGHT: Sculptor Leopold Kretz's own work; stone reads "My work is my prayer."

LEFT: A soldier of World War I, for whom "Credo" is very fitting.

CENTER: One of my favorite poets, Charles Baudelaire, who said, Always be a poet, even in prose. I couldn't agree more.

RIGHT: Bettina, whose red filigree tombstone stood out amongst the gray.


LEFT: Playwright Eugene Ionesco, who wrote some of the funniest plays in any language.
CENTER: A startling discovery, because first, this tombstone in Chinese and second, it says "Family of [my last name]." Made me quite contemplative.
RIGHT: Another surprising tombstone, a pelican. I would have liked this man had I known him, I think.

There's a certain peace you feel walking along all the tombs, certainly not from being alone.