Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise opened in 1804 as one of four new cemeteries Napoleon founded on the outskirts of Paris to relieve the overcrowded parish cemeteries in the centre. It was slow to catch on — the site felt too far from the city — so the administration ran a marketing campaign: they transferred the remains of Molière, La Fontaine, and Abélard and Héloïse there in 1817, and famous burials followed. By 1830 it was the most fashionable cemetery in France. Today it holds around 70,000 graves.

Getting a map at the entrance is essential — the cemetery is 44 hectares of winding cobbled paths on a hillside and it's astonishingly easy to get lost. Rough eastern circuit: Colette (division 4, just inside the main entrance), Chopin (division 11, always covered in flowers), Cherubini and Rossini (division 4), Balzac (division 48), Marcel Proust (division 85), and Édith Piaf (division 97, up the hill). Southern side: Oscar Wilde (division 89, tomb by Jacob Epstein, protected by glass because visitors were kissing it and eating away the stone), Jim Morrison (division 6, the guard rail exists because of him). Northern: Modigliani, Sarah Bernhardt, and the Communards' Wall where the last Paris Communards were shot in 1871.

The cemetery is quiet on weekdays, busier on weekends when Parisians come. Autumn is the best time — the chestnut trees turn, the light is low, and the atmosphere is exactly what the Romantic 19th century intended. Bring sturdy shoes; the paths are uneven cobbles and quite steep at the eastern end.

Entrance is free through all seven gates. Officials at the main entrance sell a printed map for €2; there's a decent free version at pere-lachaise.com.