Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard, where we set
out to remember and celebrate the lives of those who lived to entertain us, by visiting
their final resting places. Today we’re exploring cemeteries around
Paris, France, where we’ll find such stars as Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison,
Chopin, and many more. Join us, won’t you? Paris is for lovers, or so the saying goes. Lovers of what is subjective, I suppose. For you and me, the proud taphophile, we love
cemeteries, and famous graves. We stroll the dark avenues of the dead, while
others stroll Champs-Élysées. Welcome to Paris, my friends. After a wonderfully scenic couple of days
in Switzerland we boarded a train for France and its storied capital city, to continue
our hunt for the famous and the dead across parts of Europe. The shadows of many greats loom large over
the city of Paris, from artists and entertainers, to scientists, innovators, and political figures. We won’t have time to visit all the major
cemeteries and famous graves around Paris, but we will hit as many key highlights as
we can-can. So, without further ado, let’s hop the nearest
train, and start exploring Paris. Our tour of Paris begins today at one of the
most famous cemeteries not just in France, but in the world. The infamous Pere Lachaise cemetery. So prominent is this cemetery it has its own
metro stop. After the closure of cemeteries in central
Paris in the 1700s, large cemeteries were established on the outskirts of the city to
handle the city’s burial needs. Pere Lachaise was established by Napoleon
in 1804, as a non-denominational cemetery, open to anyone regardless of race or religion. This beautiful cemetery has become a popular
tourist destination, and has been the backdrop of numerous film and television productions. Since starting Hollywood Graveyard years ago,
Pere Lachaise has been high on my list of cemeteries to visit. It did not disappoint. Our first stop here is in division 21, just
south of Capelle de l’Est. Here we find a man who spoke volumes without
saying a word, the quintessential Parisian mime, Marcel Marceau. Mime as the artform we know today developed
in France in the 19th century. Marcel Marceau would take up the mantle of
the French mime artist in the 1940s, creating his character, Bip the Clown, instantly recognizable
with his face paint, black and white striped shirt, and top hat. As a practitioner of pantomime, he was without
peer, growing to worldwide fame for the craft he called the “art of silence.” He used his talents to aid the French Resistance
during WWII. Performing silently as Bip, the mime kept
groups of Jewish children quiet for hours as they escaped across the border from occupied
France into Switzerland. Marceau was also close friends with Michael
Jackson, his “walking against the wind” routine one of the inspirations for Jackson’s
moonwalk. And in a hilarious twist of irony, Marceau
had the only spoken line in Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie. “No.” In 1978 he founded the International School
of Mimodrama in Paris, and later established the Marceau Foundation to promote mime in
the United States. The world-famous mime went silent for the
last time at the age of 84. Just across the street west is one of the
most unique tombstones here at Pere Lachaise. Reclining in bronze atop the tombstone is
an effigy of the man who rests therein, Theodore Gericault. With palette and paintbrush in hand, you probably
deduced that Gericault was a painter, one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement of
the 1800s. His tomb features a replica of his most famous
painting, The Raft of Medusa, completed in 1819. It became an icon of French Romanticism. Gericault was just 32 when he died from various
illnesses. Heading due south, we find the Poet of the
Piano, of one of the great composers of the Romantic era, Frederic Chopin. He was known principally for writing for solo
piano, and was unequalled in his day. He was a musical child prodigy, born in Poland
and later settling in Paris. His innovations of harmony and melody would
come to define the Romantic era, and has influenced western music to this day. He performed all across Europe in the early
1800s, a bona fide music star. Among his best-known works are his Nocturne
opus 9 no.2, Fantasie Impromptu, The Minute Waltz, and
perhaps the most apropos piece of his to reference while standing here at his grave is his iconic
funeral march. You know the one. Chopin suffered from ill health much of his
life, partially the result of having contracted tuberculosis. He died at just 39, this death mask taken
shortly thereafter. Chopin’s own funeral march was played at
the procession here at Pere Lachaise. His tombstone features the muse of music weeping
over a broken lyre. You’ll be curious to know that not all of
Chopin rests here. He left his heart in Poland… literally. It was removed after his death and buried
at Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, in accordance with his wishes. Just a few spaces away is another famous pianist,
Michel Petrucciani, one of the great jazz pianists of the 20th century. He was born with osteogenesis imperfecta,
growing to just 3 feet tall, and living much of his life in pain. This didn’t stop him from becoming an accomplished
pianist, in fact he said it saved him from being ordinary. He gave his first professional concert at
just 13, and soon found himself travelling the world, performing with some of the best
jazz musicians in the world, in some of the greatest venues, like Carnegie Hall. He would also release dozens of albums in
his career. Michel Petrucciani was just 36 when he died
from pneumonia. Let’s continue south to find another legendary
musician. We visited him in our Viewers Special, but
no stop here at Pere Lachaise would be complete without a visit to Jim Morrison, legendary
singer and front man of the rock band, The Doors. The band formed in Venice California in 1965,
and would soon embody the rebellious counterculture of youth in that era. They shot to fame with their song, “Light
My Fire.” Other hits include “Break on Through to
the Other Side,” “Riders on the Storm,” and my favorite Doors song, “People are
Strange.” With his wild and unpredictable personality,
unique voice, and poetic lyrics, Morrison would become one of the most influential frontmen
in the history of rock. In 1971 Morrison was living in Paris with
his girlfriend Pamela. On the morning of July 3 he was found dead
in the bathtub. His cause of death has been shrouded in mystery
since no autopsy was performed, the official cause being listed as heart failure. Jim Morrison was just 27. Due to the overenthusiasm of fans, who have
a tendency to vandalize and leave piles of offerings, or steal things, like the bust
of Jim that used to be here, this section where Jim Morrison rests is now partitioned
off with fencing. The current marker features a Greek quote
meaning something in the vein of “True to his own spirit.” Let’s turn our compass east now, to division
96. Here rests Amadeo Modigliani. He was a painter and sculptor, active here
in Paris in the early 1900s. He’s known for his unique modern and surreal
style of painting and sculpting, particularly portraits with elongated and exaggerated features. His style wasn’t particularly well received
while he was alive, and he found very little success. Only after his death did he find the renown
that eluded him in life… such is the lot of many an artist, it seems. He died from tuberculosis at just 35. Just across the street east is division 97. Here we find a woman who became the very voice
of Paris, the Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf. Her singing style seemed to reflect the struggles
of her upbringing. She was born to a street performer father
and circus performer mother. Edith was abandoned at birth, and raised by
her grandmother in a brothel. By her teens she reunited with her father
and began singing on the streets to earn a living… on the streets, where she sometimes
slept. Soon though Edith would find herself singing
in nightclubs and cabarets. And becoming much in demand, from cabarets
to large music halls across the world. She specialized in chanson and torch ballads,
her songs often reflecting love, loss, and sorrow. But it was her cheerily optimistic song about
seeing life through rose colored glasses that made her an international star. “La Vie En Rose,” for which Edith wrote
the lyrics, became her signature song in the 1940s. [music] Another of her popular hits, “Non, je ne regrette rien,” was introduced to a new
audience as a key plot device in the movie Inception. [music] Alcohol abuse and a series of car accidents left her in poor health by her 40s. She died from an aneurysm due to liver failure
at just 47. It’s said that 100,000 mourners lined the
streets of Paris for her funeral procession – the first time the traffic in Paris came
to a complete standstill since the war. A biopic was made about the life of Edith
Piaf in 2007, titled “La Vie En Rose.” Moving up to division 44 now, we find the
grave of Sarah Bernhardt. The Divine Sarah, as she was known, was the
most popular stage actress in France in the 19th century, starring in some of the great
plays of the era, including La Dame Aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas, and Ruy Blas by Victor
Hugo. Her popularity led to a number of international
tours, including in the US. As one of the biggest stars of her era, Sarah
would become a popular muse for the era’s notable painters and glamour photographers. She would also be among the very first prominent
stage performers to make sound recordings, and to act in motion pictures. Her first film appearance was a scene from
Hamlet in 1900. Sarah initially detested the medium of cinema,
but with the success of films like Camille in 1912, quickly found her way in the movies,
starring in a handful of silent films. Throughout her life Sarah Bernhardt had a
keen preoccupation with death. She kept a satin lined coffin in her bedroom,
often sleeping or studying her roles in it. She also preferred the roles of characters
who died in the end. In 1923 Sarah was filming the movie The Clairvoyant. Due to her failing health, she was too weak
to travel, so a room in her house was set up as a film studio, complete with lights,
scenery, and cameras. She died in March before the completion of
the film. Sarah Bernhardt was 78. There is only one thing in life worse than
being talked about, and that is not being talked about. That said, let’s talk about the man who
wrote those words, Oscar Wilde.The renowned author, poet, playwright, and master of wit
was born in Dublin Ireland in 1854, and went on to study in England. His literary talent was recognized early as
he began to publish his works of poetry and plays. His work, combined with his flamboyant lifestyle,
made him into a bona fide celebrity of the late Victorian era, his work often holding
up a critical mirror to the hypocrisies of Victorian society. Among his best-known works are plays like
Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest, short stories like The Canterville Ghost,
and the only novel he wrote, The Picture of Dorian Gray. All have been adapted on stage or screen many
times over the years. At the height of his career in 1895, in what
would be one of the first widely publicized celebrity trials, Oscar Wild was convicted
of gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts. Homosexuality was illegal at the time. He was imprisoned for two years, and his career
imploded. After his release he fled to France and wrote
his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, about his time in prison. His last years were spent impoverished and
in exile. He died from meningitis in 1900 at just 46. His tomb has often been the unwitting canvas
for sharpies and lipstick… devoted fans wanting to show their love, but were actually
damaging the tomb. Someone even did away with the angel’s,
ahem, manhood. So, to prevent further vandalism and constant
cleanup, the tomb of Oscar Wilde is now surrounded by plexiglass. Strolling through Pere Lachaise feels like
a walk through a 19th century neighborhood, along cobblestone streets lined with tiny
houses, which just happen to be occupied by the dead. Northwest, just across the street from the
crematorium, we find the grave of Michel Legrand, whose brand-new tombstone was being engraved
the very day we visited. He was a composer, known particularly for
his film and television scores. He was nominated for an Academy Award 13 times
in his career, winning 3, for Yentl, Summer of ’42, and the song “The Windmills of
Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair. He was a key figure in French New Wave Cinema,
scoring films for directors like Jean-Luc Goddard, and Jacques Demy, including The Umbrellas
of Cherbourg. He also wrote and performed jazz music, touring
the world playing concerts with numerous jazz greats. He died from septicemia at the age of 86. Let’s head over now to the crematorium and
columbarium. On the west side of the columbarium, up to
the second level, we find the Mother of Modern Dance, Isadora Duncan. She was born in California, but by her early
20s was living in Europe, where she taught and performed dance, to great acclaim. Her style was inspired by more naturalistic
and improvised movement, veering from the rigidity of traditional ballet. She strove to connect emotions with movement. It was a novel approach to dance then, not
to everyone’s taste, but today recognized as an early spark of the modern dance movement. Her schools of dance operated at one time
or another in Berlin, Paris, New York, and Moscow. Her life was cut short suddenly while riding
as a passenger in a convertible automobile in 1927. She was wearing a long, flowing scarf around
her neck at the time. The scarf caught in the rear wheel, pulling
her from the car and breaking her neck. Isadora Duncan was 50. Continuing around clockwise we reach the niche
of composer, Paul Dukas. Perhaps not a name as well-known as Debussy
or Beethoven, still, Paul Dukas composed one of the best-known orchestral concert pieces
in history. In 1897 he wrote The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,
inspired by Goethe’s poem of the same name. The theme of the playfully scherzo piece is
instantly recognizable, and many audiences know it today as the musical backdrop of Disney’s
Fantasia. Paul Dukas had several other works popular
in his day, but all eclipsed by The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. He died at the age of 69. On the southeast side, down to the main level,
is Max Ernst. He was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist
who, despite having no formal art training, was one of the pioneers of the Dada and Surrealist
movements in the early 20th century. He was very experimental in his approach to
art, developing techniques such as frottage, a form of pencil rubbing, and grattage, scratching
fresh paint with a sharp blade, as well as the use of collage. His surreal works were often inspired by dream
and fantasy, as well as spiritualism. He also appeared in a small handful of films,
including 1930’s The Golden Age. Ernst lived to be 84. To find our next star we must enter the lower
level of the columbarium. Here rests Emile Cohl. He was an early pioneer of animation, sometimes
called The Father of the Animated Cartoon. Fascinated by the 1907 film, The Haunted Hotel,
which combines live action with stop motion animation, Cohl studied the film frame by
frame to learn the art of animation. In 1908 Cohl made Fantasmagorie, considered
the very first fully animated cartoon, becoming the first filmmaker to then fully dedicated
himself to animated cartoons. He would go on to create over 200 animated
films into the 1920s, but soon bigger names would steal the spotlight, like Winsor McCay
and Walt Disney. He fell into obscurity and was financially
ruined by the great depression by 1930. Emile Cohl died from pneumonia at age 81. Back out to the grounds, we’re in division
49. Here lies Michel Delpech. He was a singer and songwriter, who rose to
popularity in France in the 60s and 70s. He had hits in the song “Wight is Wight,”
a tribute to the Isle of Wight Rock Festival, and “Pour un Flirt.” A longtime smoker, Delpech was diagnosed with
throat cancer in 2013. He died 3 years later at the age of 69. Just a few spaces away is 60s cinema and style
icon, Anna Karina. She’s remembered for her prominent role
in French New Wave cinema in the 60s, being the muse of director Jean-Luc Goddard. She would appear in 8 of his films, including
Pierrot le Fou, Alphaville, and A Woman is a Woman, which earned her critical acclaim. [music] The 1967 TV musical comedy Anna was written for her, and she had a hit a song from that
production, "Sous le soleil exactement." In the 70s, Anna formed a production company
to produce and direct her own film, Vivre Ensemble. She continued to perform, sing, and write
into the 2000s, passing away in 2019 at age 79. Continuing west to division 48, we find the
grave of Honore de Balzac. He was a French novelist and playwright, one
of the founders of realism in European literature. His magnum opus is the series of novels known
collectively as La Comedie Humaine, The Human Comedy, which paints an epic picture of French
life in the early 19th century, spanning nearly 100 novels and novellas. He continued to write at a furious pace until
dying from heart failure at age 51. Still further west, nearly hidden between
two large tombs, we find Georges Bizet. He was one of the great composers of the Romantic
era. He’s known particularly for his operas,
his last work, Carmen, one of the most well-known and frequently performed operas in the world. It features those instantly recognized arias,
“Habanera” and “Toreador Song.” The opera was first performed in Paris in
1875, and with its flouting of conventions of the time, shocked and scandalized audiences. Reactions were mixed, and Bizet was convinced
he had a flop. Bizet suffered ill health much of his adult
life, and died just months after the premier of Carmen, never knowing the global phenomenon
that it would become, and remain over a century later. Other of his works that remain popular to
this day are the incidental music written for the play, L'Arlésienne. Georges Bizet was just 36 when he died. Over now to section 56, is another famous
Georges, Georges Seurat. He was a painter, known as an innovator of
the pointillism style, in which small dots are used to form a painting, rather than long
brush strokes. His best-known work is A Sunday Afternoon
on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which depicts a casual afternoon on the banks of the Seine
River in 1880s Paris. It was a founding work of the neo-impressionist
movement. So popular was this painting, it became the
basis of a Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim. Like so many of the gifted artists we’ve
met today, Georges Seurat met an early death. He was just 31. His cause of death remains uncertain, sometimes
attributed to pneumonia, meningitis, or diphtheria. Our last stop here in Pere Lachaise brings
us to the northernmost section, where we find our third famous Georges in a row, the creator
of the cinematic spectacle, Georges Melies. His grave was partially hidden under a tarp,
likely for cleaning or renovations. George Melies is considered by many as the
father of motion picture special effects. He began his career on stage performing magic. The skills he learned as an illusionist would
translate to his innovative efforts in creating special effects on film. He began experimenting with film in the late
1800s, developing photographic tricks and effects like double exposure, time-lapse,
dissolves, and substitution splices. This allowed audiences to experience things
that were not possible in the real world, even in stage illusion, and took the budding
medium of the movies to a whole new level. He created hundreds of short films, most notable
among them are The Impossible Voyage in 1904, and A Trip to the Moon in 1902, which features
one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history. By the 20s Melies’ career had declined and
he had become all but forgotten, most of his prints tragically melted down for silver. He made ends meet working a small candy and
toy stand in Paris. The rediscovery of his work by the 30s led
to him being presented the Legion of Honor, and assured his place in the annals of cinema
history. He died from cancer at the age of 76, just
hours after the passing of another French film pioneer who we visited earlier, Emile
Cohl. Georges is buried here alongside his wife,
Jehanne d’Alcy, real name Charlotte, who appeared in close to 20 of her husband’s
films, including A Trip to the Moon. Also notably, she played Joan of Arc’s mother
in 1900, The Fairy Godmother in 1899’s Cinderella, and she’s credited with appearing in the
earliest surviving nude scene on film, in 1897’s After the Ball, the Bath… though
the nudity was implied, as she was wearing a skin-colored partial body suit. Jeahnne died in 1956 at the age of 91. Leaving Pere Lachaise behind, we cross the
Seine into the city, and head to the 18th Century marvel of architecture and art, one
of Paris’s most visited landmarks, the Pantheon. It was built between 1758 and 1790 at the
behest of King Louis XV. It was originally intended to be a church
dedicated to Saint Genevieve, but after the onset of the French Revolution, it was decided
that it would be transformed into a mausoleum for the remains of distinguished French citizens,
modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. In these historic halls are monuments to both
the religious and secular history of France. Part of that secular history includes the
demonstration of the rotation of the earth. In 1851, physicist Leon Foucault constructed
a 220 ft pendulum here beneath the central dome. The original pendulum is in a museum, with
this replica here in its place. Beneath the Pantheon is a crypt where many
of France’s notable figures have been entombed. Those who rest here are deemed National Heroes
by parliament. Let’s see who we can find here. Just in from the entrance on the left is Voltaire. Born Francois-Marie Arouet in 1694, Voltaire,
as he would become known, was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher. His works cover nearly every medium of writing,
including poems, plays, novels, essays, histories, etc. He was an early advocate for ideals that,
though more commonly accepted today, were quite progressive in his day, like basic civil
liberties, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. Many of these ideals would spark the French
Revolution decades later. Among his best-known writings are the fictitious
Lettres Philosophiques, and the satirical novel Candide. Yet amidst all his writings, perhaps his greatest
legacy was teaching his readers to think clearly. Voltaire enlarged the human spirit and taught
it to be free. He died in 1778 at the age of 83. Because of his criticism of the church, he
was denied a Christian burial in Paris. He was initially buried in Champagne until
1791 when his remains were enshrined here in the Pantheon. Let’s move deeper into the crypt. Inscriptions on the outer walls tell us who
lies within. Fortunately for us the individual crypts were
open for visitation when we were there. This is where Marie Curie is laid to rest. She was born in Poland and came to Paris to
study in her 20s, her focus of study being physics and chemistry. Marie Curie is remembered for her pioneering
research on radioactivity, a term she coined. She worked with her husband, Pierre Curie,
and together their research into radioactivity earned them the Nobel Prize in 1903, making
Marie Curie the first woman to be awarded the honor. Eight years later, in 1911, she won a second
Nobel Prize, this one in chemistry, for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium,
using techniques she invented for isolating radioactive isotopes. This would make her the first person to win
two Nobel Prizes. Under her direction the first studies into
the treatment of cancer with radiation were conducted, and during the WWI era, she helped
the military develop mobile X-Ray units for field hospitals. In the years since Marie Curie has become
one of the most iconic scientists in history, and an inspiration to women everywhere. Marie Curie died in 1934 at the age of 66
from aplastic anemia. The damaging effects of radiation were not
well understood at the time of her work, and absent protective measures, likely affected
her health. She was originally buried with Pierre in a
cemetery in the Paris suburbs. But 60 years later, capping off the many firsts
by Marie Curie, she would become the first woman to be enshrined here in the Pantheon
when she and her husband were moved here in 1995. Marie is here with her husband, Pierre Curie,
French physicist and pioneer in various fields of science, including radioactivity. Before his innovative research in radioactivity
with Marie, he and his brother discovered piezoelectricity, through crystal oscillators,
which today are used in many of the consumer devices we use every day, like that cellphone
you’re watching this video on. Pierre and Marie married in 1895 and began
their revolutionary work together, for which they shared the Nobel Prize, the scientific
unit of radiation now being called a “curie.” But Pierre’s life and work were cut tragically
short when crossing the street in the rain in 1906, he slipped and fell under a heavy
horse-drawn cart. He died instantly at the age of 46. Over to the other end of the crypt, we find
a room full of legendary French writers. First on the right is Emile Zola. He was one of the most prominent authors of
late 19th century France. He was known as a practitioner of naturalism
in literature, in contrast to the romanticism of the first half the 19th century. His best-known work in this field is the 20-novel
series known collectively as Les Rougon-Macquart, which follows the lives of fictional families
during the second French Empire. Zola is also remembered for his role in The
Dreyfus affair, through his famous open letter, opening with “J’accuse!” Emile Zola died suddenly from carbon monoxide
poisoning caused by a blocked chimney flue. He was 62. At his funeral he was eulogized as not only
a great novelist, but a defender of truth, and a champion of the persecuted. In 1937 he was portrayed by Paul Muni in the
biopic, The Life of Emile Zola. At the end of the room is Alexandre Dumas,
one of the most widely-read French authors, known for his historical adventure stories. His best-known works are The Count of Monte
Cristo, and The Three Musketeers, both written as serials in the 1840s. Countless film and stage adaptations have
been made of the works of Dumas, keeping his stories alive for every new generation. Before his success as a novelist, Dumas was
actually a noted playwright, his play Henry III and His Court considered one of the first
great Romantic dramas produced on the Paris stage. Alexandre Dumas lived to be 68, and was originally
buried in the Cimetière de Villers-Cotterêts. On the 200th anniversary of his birth his
remains were exhumed and relocated here to the Pantheon. Circling back, we find Victor Hugo, another
of the greatest and best-known French writers and poets. Two stories that are inexorably connected
with Paris and France came from the mind of Hugo: Les Miserables, and The Hunchback of
Notre Dame. Les Miserables, considered one of the greatest
novels ever written, is the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean, who becomes a force for good,
while unable to escape his criminal past. It touches on the social ills being fought
then, and still being fought by many today. Perhaps the most notable adaptation of Les
Miserables is the musical, which debuted in Paris in 1980. The 1985 English version is now the longest-running
West End musical, and has also been adapted on film. Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame has also
been adapted on film numerous times, from a silent version starring Lon Chaney, to the
Disney version in 1996. The gothic novel made Notre-Dame de Paris
a national icon, which is currently rising from the ashes of a devastating fire in 2019. Victor Hugo was also a major political influence
in democratic France, espousing ideas of universal suffrage, free education for children, and
the abolition of slavery and the death penalty. Hugo went into exile after Napoleon III overthrew
France’s democratic system of government, but returned a hero after the fall of the
Second Empire in 1870 and the re-establishment of the Republic. In 1885 Victor Hugo died from pneumonia at
age 83, sparking a period of national mourning. Millions joined the funeral procession from
the Arc de Triomphe to the Pantheon. In the next room down, we find a man who gave
new life and hope to the seeing impaired, Louis Braille. At the age of 3 young Louis was playing with
some of his father’s tools and accidentally stabbed himself in the eye with an awl. An infection from the injury spread, and eventually
he lost both eyes. His blindness didn’t stop him from excelling
in his studies. But Louis was frustrated by the systems used
in his day for the blind to read and write, and he grew determined to devise his own system
that could bridge the communication gap between the blind and the seeing. He came across a tactile system of raised
dots developed by Charles Barbier. Impressed by the system he worked to improve
upon it and optimize it. His system was largely completed by 1824,
when he was just fifteen. Small revisions over the years led to the
system we know today as Braille, named for its creator, which consists of six raised
dots in two columns. But Braille’s system wouldn’t be adapted
in his lifetime, so he went to his grave not knowing the profound affect he would have
on generations of the blind. Braille was just 43 when he died from tuberculosis. He was originally buried in his hometown of
Coupvray, but on the 100th anniversary of his death his remains were moved here to the
Pantheon. However, in a symbolic gesture, his hands
were removed and left buried in his hometown. No self-respecting tombstone tourist could
take a trip to Paris and not visit the world-famous Catacombs of Paris… truly one of the most
unique experiences you can have while grave hunting, getting up close and personal with
the dead. Down, down, down we go, deep under the city
of Paris, down endless stairways and along endless corridors carved into the rock, corridors
barely taller than you are, the air cooling with every step, reaching 90 feet below the
surface. “Halt! This is death’s empire,” aka my home turf. Fair warning, the catacombs are not for the
faint of heart. The Catacombs of Paris are an ossuary that
hold the remains of some 6 million individuals. By the late 1700s, cemeteries in the city
of Paris began to overflow, causing health and safety concerns. The solution was to move the bones from all
of central Paris’s cemeteries to an abandoned underground quarry, dating back to the 15th
century. Little by little these former limestone quarries
began to fill up with the bones from all the cemeteries of central Paris. Initially the bones were stacked haphazardly,
but in 1810 the Inspector General of the quarries decided to develop the area for a museum-like
atmosphere, and stack the bones in geometric and neat patterns, creating bone walls and
formations called hagues. The catacombs were then opened to the public,
and have been a popular destination for the curious thrill seeker ever since. Back up to the empire of the living, our next
stop is a complex of museums and monuments known as Les Invalides. It’s dedicated particularly to the military
history of France. Beneath the grand Dome, one just lofty enough
for the hubris of the man resting thereunder, we find the tomb Napoleon Bonaparte. He was one of the great military leaders during
the French Revolution, and by the age of 26 was commanding the French Army in battles
all across Europe and Egypt. Upon returning to Paris in 1799 he seized
power through a coup d’etat, and crowned himself emperor in 1804. He would reign as emperor over much of Europe
for the next 10 years, then briefly again 1815, before his empire fell and he abdicated
the throne. His legacy is a mixed one. He’s recognized as one of the great commanders
in history, and he did much good in rebuilding France after the wars, instituting higher
education, championing the arts and science, founding the first central bank in France,
and establishing a fair and modern legal system that espoused equality before the law. But he was also a despot, whose megalomaniacal
warmongering led to the deaths of millions of Europeans. He forced his way into power, and used propaganda
and strict censorship to legitimize his regime. After a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
in 1815, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821
at the age of 51. He was originally buried on Saint Helena,
but before his death Napoleon had expressed a desire to be buried on the banks of the
Seine in Paris. In 1840 King Louis Phillip I obtained permission
from the British government to return Napoleon’s body to Paris. He was exhumed, his casket opened to ensure
it still contained the former emperor. He was finally entombed in this red quartzite
sarcophagus in 1861. In 2021, on the bicentenary of his death,
a replica of the skeleton of his favorite horse, Marengo, was hung from the cupola above,
and floats like a phantom over his tomb. To reach our next Paris cemetery we pass by
the Eiffel Tower and cross back over the Seine, in the direction of the Trocadero. This is Cimetiere de Passy. It’s the only cemetery in the world with
a view of the Eiffel Tower nearby. Here we find the grave of Edouard Manet. He was another of Paris’s renowned painters,
a pivotal figure in the transition from realism to impressionism in the 19th century. He was a bridge between the rigidity of traditional
art, and something that was fundamentally new, unencumbered by rules. That something would become modern art. His paintings, like “Luncheon on the Grass,”
and “Olympia,” sparked both notoriety and controversy among the public when first
exhibited, while others depicted the simple beauties of real 19th century life. In the 1880s Manet began to suffer from serious
medical conditions. In 1883 his left foot was amputated because
of gangrene, due to complications from syphilis and rheumatism. He died a short time later, at the age of
51. Just south, not far from Manet, we find the
grave of serial queen, Pearl White. She was an actress of the silent film era,
starring in over 200 films. She became an international star as the lead
heroine in The Perils of Pauline series, and other serials of the era. At one time her popularity even rivalled that
of Mary Pickford. She became well-known for performing most
of her own dangerous stunts. Pearl retired from the screen in 1924 and
settled in Paris. Heavy drinking, sometimes to dull the pain
of injuries she sustained while filming, led to liver failure later in life. She died at just 49. Pearl was portrayed by Betty Hutton in the
1947 biopic, The Perils of Pauline. Let’s head northwest to section 2. Here lies Hubert de Givenchy. You fashion buffs will recognize that name. The House of Givenchy, sometimes just Givenchy,
is a luxury fashion and perfume house, formed by Hubert in 1952. He’s famous for having designed wardrobe
and clothing for legends including Audrey Hepburn, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and
Jackie Kennedy. He designed costumes for other films as well,
including Sabrina, Paris when it Sizzles, and Funny Face, which earned him an Oscar
nomination. These were all for the woman considered his
muse, Audrey Hepburn. Hubert de Givenchy died in his sleep in 2018
at age 91. In the western end of the cemetery we squeeze
through a narrow alley to find another of France’s storied composers, Claude Debussy. He was a founder of the Impressionist movement
in music, his innovative style breaking with the norms of tonality of Western music to
that point. He was greatly inspired by the Symbolist movement,
and also took inspiration from natural sources like clouds, the moon, and the sea, to paint
unique sonic landscapes. Perhaps his most famous work is his piece
for solo piano, Clair De Lune, which you’re listening to right now. It was first published in 1905. He’s also known for orchestral work like
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and his opera, Pelléas and Mélisande. Debussy died from cancer in 1918 at the age
of 55. WWI was raging at the time, and Paris was
under arial bombardment by the Germans, so there was no public funeral or ceremony for
Debussy. A small funeral procession made its way through
the city as German guns rained hellfire from the skies. He was temporarily buried at Pere Lachaise
before finally being laid to rest here, “among the trees and the birds,” with his wife
and daughter. Our last Paris cemetery is a few miles north
of here. This is Cimetiere Levallois-Perret. We’ve honored many of the 20th century’s
great composers today in Paris, and there’s one more for us to find. Here lies Maurice Ravel. Like Debussy he was associated with Impressionism
of the late 19th century. One of his best-known frequently-performed
works is Bolero, an orchestral piece originally commissioned as a ballet by Russian actress
and dancer, Ida Rubenstein. [music] And another timeless masterpiece penned by Ravel
is the grand ballet, Daphnis and Chloe. He also orchestrated Mussorgsky’s Pictures
at an Exhibition. [music] Ravel was among the first of the orchestral composers to recognize the potential of the
new medium of recording to bring his music to a wider audience. His final years saw gradual cognitive decline,
though the exact nature of the illness remains unsure. Maurice Ravel died in 1937 at age 62. And finally, we end our Paris tour with the
man whose creation has become the landmark symbol of Paris. Here lies Gustave Eiffel, or Eiffel as we
say in English. He was a civil engineer in 1800s Paris, who
made a name for himself building bridges for the railway network. In 1889 the World’s Fair was being held
in Paris. A grand centerpiece was envisioned, to celebrate
the centennial of the French Revolution. Engineers at Eiffel’s company offered the
initial designs, and construction began in 1887. Upon its completion two years later, The Eiffel
Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the world. Initial reactions to the tower were mixed,
many seeing it as an eyesore and even going so far as to protest its construction. It was only intended to stand for 20 years
then be dismantled, but in addition to practical uses for the tower, its status as one of the
most visited and recognized landmarks in the world, will keep it standing forever. Not only did Eiffel build France’s most
iconic landmark, he contributed to America’s too, designing the internal structure of the
Statue of Liberty, which was built at Eiffel’s workshop before being dismantled and reassembled
in New York. Gustave Eiffel lived to be 91, passing away
in Paris in 1923. And that concludes our tour. What are some of your favorite memories of
the stars we visited today? Share them in the comments below, and be sure
to like, share, and subscribe for more famous grave tours. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you on the
next one! This was a curious discovery at Pere Lachaise. This mausoleum, which reads La Memoire Necropolitaine,
features a large camera inside, with a reflective lens. La Memoire Necropolitaine is a cultural association
which aims to give a future to our past by safeguarding the funerary heritage through
images. For more, scan this QR Code to visit their
website.
