Day 19 - Sunny Paris — Patti Part Two

A beautiful day in Paris! Finally the sun came out after our first couple of cloudy days here, and since it was Sunday the streets were full of families enjoying the day. So many adorable kids on scooters!😊

First up we headed to the Pompidou Center. That’s a huge Modern Art Museum here in an inside-out awesome building. The good news is that a number of the museums here are free entry the first Sunday of the month - including the Pompidou. The bad news is that the lines to get in are quite long- but we were patient and made it in in 45 minutes. Worth it!

I love the juxtaposition of the very old and very new across from each other. Pompidou on the left, Old Paris on the right.

The front of the Pompidou. Bottom left - Picasso. Lots of great interesting art inside.

Next up lunch at a cute place in the Marais.

Something that has been on my list to visit here but never had the time to get to is the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It’s in the 11th arrondissement so a bit away from the central historic core most visitors spend their time in, but is the permanent home to over 70,000 Parisians including many famous ones. So we hopped on the Metro and headed there to find some of the famous graves. Is it weird to say a cemetery was awesome? I thought it was! It’s surrounded by this cool stone wall and has cobblestone walkways between the numbered districts. Lots of beautiful trees, park benches, a chapel and crematorium. They have a large listing of the “famous” people buried there, and it’s kind of like a scavenger hunt to find them in the 100 acre cemetery. They are still “accepting” new residents, but I can’t imagine where, as the graves are right on top of each other. But we did see new ones wedged in so it is possible.

Most of the gravestones were huge! Top left just one example of what we saw. Quite dramatic! Bottom right one of the new modern additions.

One of the most famous and sought out graves is Jim Morrison of the Doors. There is a fence around his site but people obviously jump over it to leave their gifts. Note the whisky bottle and half filled glass!

Many cobblestone walkways. Lots of people there but still so peaceful.

We took our time walking back from the cemetery and enjoyed the nice weather. Another action packed day coming up so check back soon!