Walking with the dead

Did that title get you to read on?

We revisited the Cimetiere de Montmartre - a huge graveyard built in an old quarry so it is below street level and in fact goes right under the street to the other side. Many famous people are buried there although only a few we recognized for sure. Not that much to say except it was the coolest cemetery I've seen and you can bury me there (gives a reason to visit Paris too)

So, with no further ado, some (but by no means all) of my favorites..

The map of famous people


A picture showing the large street above



It has street and district names (like the Paris Arrondissements)


and even traffic circles...








Creator of the French cancan






Alexandre Dumas - it says fils (son) after his name to distinguish him from his father whose name was the same (we asked some French visitors)





Edgar Degas


Jean Foucault





Vaslav Nijinsky - famous Russian ballet dancer





Bill says at this point, "all the statues are so sad" - guess he wants a happy clown on his...


Added note on this Jewish one to not forget family members taken away by the Nazis





Ok, done, I had a hard time narrowing down these ....

On to a happy note - the movie Amelie - today we found and ate at the cafe used in the movie - sitting outside we watched many people take pictures.



We had a pasta and salmon which was quite tasty - with French bread and wine, of course...


Creme brûlée (btw, I apologize for not using accents on French words...)



Inside Amelie's restaurant






In the restroom


And if you saw the movie, you know what this scene was... (if you don't know, watch the movie)


Couldn't help but notice how, despite so many people on the streets and eating outside, it was very clean. Everyday we saw people cleaning the streets and even saw trash trucks picking up on Sunday.


The brooms they use to sweep the street while water streams down, washing everything into drains





Then to fulfill Bill's other dream we visited the produce stand from Amelie.






I skipped a pretty church and some nice views but this is getting long...

And now it was time to pick up our luggage and take the RER train to St Germain-en-laye... Here is the tiny lift that took our luggage and one person...normally we used the steps


But first goodbye to Jacques and Helene's cat, Schnouff. The name is slang that refers to "white powder" and also given because they live by Place Blanche on Rue Blanche (French word for white)


Trip to St Germain-en-laye and best meal so far coming up next...