{"id":20947,"date":"2024-10-20T02:27:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T02:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=20947"},"modified":"2024-11-09T18:29:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T18:29:32","slug":"on-to-paris-pere-lachaise-and-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=20947","title":{"rendered":"On to Paris, “Pere Lachaise” and home…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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I finally got to visit the famous P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetery<\/a> – on my (2023) return visit to Paris…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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October 20, 2024 – I last posted on September 1, 2024. That post talked about our last day hiking<\/a> on the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail<\/a> in France, back in September 2023<\/strong><\/em>. (A last-day hike with “a bit of drama<\/a>.”) In the meantime I just got home from another hike, in Spain, hiking the Camino Finisterre<\/a> and Camino Ingles<\/a>. (From September 7 to October 7, 2024<\/strong><\/em>, which hikes also included some unexpected drama.) I’ll discuss those hikes in a future post, but here I’ll close out the 2023 hike with our leaving Saint-Jean-du-Gard<\/a> and heading back up to Paris. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted, on October 3, 2023 – having finished our 150 miles – we had a quiet relaxing evening, then hit the sack, “weary but with a feeling of accomplishment.” Wednesday, October 4, we slept in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. (Not at all like the usual hectic morning preparation for a long day’s hike.) Then visited the Cevennes museum, the Mus\u00e9e des vall\u00e9es c\u00e9venoles<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very impressive. \u201cRugged\u201d is a good word to describe this countryside. Highly suitable for the guerrilla war waged by the Protestant Camisards, the killings, torture and pillaging [that] Stevenson described at length in his book about hiking through here with his donkey, Modestine. (\u201cThank God WE don\u2019t have to worry about stuff like that!\u201d)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Which brings up why I haven’t quoted Stevenson’s book<\/a> lately. In the last part he talked mostly about that “spiritual” but violent warfare between Protestants and Catholics in the area. (An “off on a tangent” not relevant here.) One relevant thing I did<\/em><\/strong> learn at the museum? The locals don’t just let all those chestnuts<\/a> we saw on the last days of the hike rot on the ground. Harvesting chestnuts is big business in the Cevennes. Also, the day of rest worked wonders. “My left-ankle tweak is pretty much healed up.” (The one I got falling twice on that last day of hiking.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday we took a bus to Al\u00e8s<\/a>. “For the first time since September 17, we traveled a good long distance \u2013 but without walking it, without hauling a 20-pound pack (too far), and without crawling around and over a bunch of (bleeping) rock-infested paths!” We waited at a cafe right near the St. Jean bus station. Sipping on a cafe creme I noticed “three antsy rug rats, waiting as mom got them some lunch. It struck me as odd: ‘Even these little guys can speak French!'” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we got to Ales we learned that the innkeeper was “caught up in the Paris bedbug panic. We each got a large plastic bag to put our packs in, with instructions to tie the bag up tight \u2013 when not getting stuff out of it.” (I’m not sure how effective that method was. I saw this summer that Paris had another infestation for the 2024 Olympics.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, on Friday October 6 we caught the train to Paris. On the ride up I checked Facebook and saw a friend’s quote from John Muir<\/a>, on how he hated the word \u201chiking,\u201d and preferred the term \u201csauntering.\u201d Which brings up the fact that I too prefer to saunter<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My natural walking speed is a mile in 24 minutes, which makes it easier to string together Magic Moments, Zen Moments where you just ARE. (\u201cI AM THAT I AM!\u201d) Especially when you\u2019re \u201csauntering\u201d up a steep Mont in the Cevennes, having to stop every few minutes and look out at another majestic mountain view\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Finally we got to Paris and a day later I got to see that P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetery<\/a>. The one I missed by 10 minutes on my second day in Paris? Back on Tuesday, September 12, 2023? I got there at 6:10 p.m. only to find that it closed at 6:00. But first, a bit about our lodging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We ended up staying two nights at a posh apartment, supposedly on \u201c76 rue Aristide Briand.\u201d But type that address into Google Maps and you’ll invariably get a different place in Paris. Way down by the Seine, near the Assembl\u00e9e nationale – Palais Bourbon<\/em>. Meaning there are apparently two<\/strong><\/em> “76 rue Aristide Briands” in Paris. They’re both on rue Aristide Briand, but where we stayed was right across from “this big palace-looking place,” Mairie de Levallois-Perret<\/em>, shown at the bottom of the page. And speaking of we three tired Americans being confused at the end of a long travel day, that brings the reputation of Parisians being so rude<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that young French guy, back on my first day in Paris? When I got shunted onto Boulevard Richard-Lenoir instead of staying on Boulevard Voltaire? The one who said I’d just passed Rue Sedaine, but from the wrong side? It happened again on the late Friday afternoon, only two different <\/strong><\/em>Frenchmen helped we lost Americans find our way to the apartment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were in the vicinity, close, but somehow couldn’t see the apartment-building number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got into the apartment late Friday afternoon, and for one thing admired the great view. (Saturday afternoon we saw a bunch of big-group couples get married \u201cen masse\u201d at Mairie De Levallois-Perret<\/a> across the way. “At least three such big-group weddings. And remarkably choreographed. All the people ‘whooping’ on cue by the cameraman. Boy those French sure know how to throw a party.”) Saturday morning<\/strong><\/em> Tom and I rode the Metro down to Pere Lachaise cemetery. “Where famous people like Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried. I found Oscar\u2019s tomb, sealed off against privy-part vandalism, but not Jim Morrison\u2019s. It\u2019s a huge place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was a pleasant hour and a half, ambling around the beautiful, well-laid-out cemetery grounds, even if the place was filled with tourists and even though I couldn’t find Jim Morrison’s spot. There were plenty of people at Oscar Wilde’s tomb<\/a> though, with an intriguing history of its own and<\/strong><\/em> a glass barrier to make the monument both “kiss-proof” and protect against vandalism. (The statue’s larger-than-life testicles were “removed in an act of vandalism in 1961.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A less-intriguing side note. In Paris I\u2019ve always shied away from the Metro. But in those two days I took at least eight such trips, and fortunately had nary a problem with \u201cles pickpockets<\/em><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My last two rides on the Metro came on Sunday, October 8. Tom and Carol were flying out of de Gaulle Airport<\/a> at 12:30, and my flight was at 3:30, so we hugged and parted ways at Gare du Nord. After that I hiked up and about a bit, then ended up at a cafe across Place Napoleon III from the station. (Right after the street-name changes from “Rue de Dunkerque.”) So there I was, “almost at the same place I was two years ago in 2021,” gathering my thoughts at a sidewalk cafe, scribbling in a pocket notebook “a la Hemingway,” sipping on one last cafe creme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain why any 72-year-old in his right mind would want to hike 150 miles in a strange country where everyone talks funny, and when such \u201chiking\u201d means crawling over and around a bunch of rock-strewn paths. I guess you had to be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our view of the Mairie De Levallois-Perret<\/a><\/em>, site of those “multiple weddings…”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy of P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetery – Wikipedia<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “From September 7 to October 7.” I flew over to Madrid on September 6, arrived the next morning, and flew back home from Lisbon on October 7. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Chestnuts. I wrote of those last few days, “Hiking along the Trail we saw TONS of the tree-droppings, with their green and sharp spikes. It turns out they\u2019re chestnuts.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Bedbugs in Paris. For 2023, The Bedbugs in Paris: Here\u2019s What We Know So Far<\/a>. Then Paris Bedbugs Infestation & 2024 Olympics: The Latest Info<\/a>. We didn’t have a problem.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Sauntering.” The site saunter – Wiktionary, the free dictionary<\/a> noted, “Competing theories exist” as to the origin of the meaning. As to Muir or Thoreau on sauntering versus walking, etc. The Facebook post quoted Muir as saying the word came from \u201ca la saint terre,\u201d or \u201cto the Holy Land,\u201d but Henry David Thoreau<\/a> wrote about that in 1861. See The Spirit of Sauntering: Thoreau on the Art of Walking<\/a>. Published in 1861, when Muir would have been 23.<\/em> See also John Muir: A Parable of Sauntering – Stillness Speaks<\/a>, based on a work published in 1911.<\/em> For the full quote from Thoreau see last June’s post, \u201cAcadia\u201d \u2013 and a hike up Cadillac Mountain<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re:<\/em> \u201cI AM THAT I AM!\u201d<\/em> A reference to Exodus 3:14<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Parisians being rude. See The Myth of French Rudeness: A Parisian Perspective – MSN<\/a>, on the “recurring narrative in travel guides, movies, and anecdotes.” Also Rude or Simply French? Debunking the Cultural Clich\u00e9s<\/a>: “several years ago, France\u2019s Foreign Minister launched a campaign to improve the reputation of French people .They encouraged local people to be warmer to tourists in daily interactions. It was to be a ‘national priority’ with initiatives to improve communication in hotels, restaurants, and kiosks, and to provide multi-lingual directions to airports.” I certainly saw the difference…<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Remember that young French guy?” See “The last time I saw Paris?\u201d \u2013 Just this past September<\/a>. “Then I asked a young Frenchman, sitting on a bench at what turned out to be the ‘Marche Bastille…’ He was polite, and set me straight. So much for the city\u2019s reputation for being so rude<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, re: Confusion about our lodging in Paris. I wrote: “I could have sworn the address was 76 rue Aristide ‘Bruant,’ named for the guy made famous by the Toulouse-Latrec Poster<\/a>. He [Bruant] was a famous French cabaret singer, comedian, and nightclub owner. Aristide BRIAND served 11 terms as French prime minister, from 1910 to 1929. And was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. Quite the statesman, but he never got immortalized by a colorful Toulouse-Latrec poster.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Pickpockets. See e.g. Pickpockets in Paris: How to Avoid<\/a>, or Google “pickpockets paris.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy of Mairie De Levallois-Perret Paris – Image Results<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s a note I cut out in the interest of “UCC, that Unity and Coherence<\/a> Crap.” At the end of last year’s hike on the GR-70 I suggested that we hike the Canterbury Trail (Pilgrims’ Way<\/a>) in England. I wrote: “That\u2019s it for this year. Next year hiking in England, where we can understand what the locals are saying. (Mostly.) It\u2019s been fun, but I can\u2019t wait to get home.” But as it turned out, the prices – especially for lodging – were far too high in England. “That’s why for 2024 we’re heading back to Spain and the Camino Finisterre. But that’s a story for another time.” <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*   *   *   * *   *   *   * October 20, 2024 – I last posted on September 1, 2024. That post talked about our last day hiking on the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail in France, back in September 2023. (A last-day hike with “a bit of drama.”) In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20947"}],"version-history":[{"count":153,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21453,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20947\/revisions\/21453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}