Paris, Day 23: Père Lachaise, Vogue Café and the Last Walkabout

Originally published on February 1, 2014, this blog post series is an undergraduate short-term study abroad trip in Paris, France in partnership with Salve Regina University and AIFS Abroad. The blog post may have been edited for clarity and updated with relevant travel information and links.

There was no time wasted on the last day in Paris.

After the final exam, we went to Père Lachaise, the cemetery where several famous people were buried—Colette, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, and Gericault to name a few. It was amazing to see how old the cemetery was and how large many of the graves were.

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s grave was built by a woman who was in love with him. The tradition for many years was to kiss the statue with lipstick…you’ll notice that the grave is surrounded by a protective barrier to protect the stone…

Edith Piaf

The grave of Gericault. His friend, Delacroix, made sure that his grave was taken care of and well done. Unfortunately, when Delacroix died, no one returned him the favor–he’s buried in an ordinary style grave nearby.

Apparently Gericault still has admirers

Colette

We went back to the FIAP together and had our last lunch at the dining hall. Everyone planned to go to Opéra Garnier afterward, but since I had already gone with my home university, I went to the Vogue Café at the original Printemps department store, then met up with my friend Jim to give him a mini walking tour of Paris.

Jim and I started at Opéra Garnier and went through Place Vendôme, Place de la Concorde, Les Jardins des Tuileries, Le Louvre, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf and ended at Boulevard Saint Germain. It was a good realization that I could comfortably walk around the streets of Paris without getting completely lost.

I met up with the everyone at Linda’s apartment on Île St. Louis by Notre Dame for appetizers and dinner. We had invited our professor to come as well, so she joined in on the fun with her students. Linda made reservations at a restaurant down the street from the apartment and treated us to a delicious “last supper” in Paris…