After a long night of traveling and a somewhat wild ride from the airport to our hotel in Montparnasse, courtesy of a pre-arranged airport shuttle, we booked into the Aviatic Hotel and went to our room to rest and freshen up before making our first foray into the beautiful world that is Paris.

To nobody's surprise, our rest period was very brief and we were soon out on a quest for coffee - which meant we had to walk about a hundred feet or so before we encountered one of Paris's innumerable cafes, restaurants, patisseries, or boulangeries. After that little pick-me-up, we walked to Montparnasse Cemetery, enjoying the endless Parisian panorama of beautiful buildings, large and small parks and gardens, sculptures and monuments and so on, along the way.

When we arrived at the cemetery, we went to the guard's hut to see if a map of the cemetery was available. The smiling guard asked if Denise was my wife. When I replied that she was, he said that he would give us a map if I gave her a kiss (well, this is Paris). I was more than happy to oblige and we set off, map in hand, along the cobblestone 'streets' in search of the famous dead (see a few photos below).

We found ourselves in a beautiful old cemetery, still in use, which is alternately bright and cheerful and dark and sombre, with gravestones and tombs in various states of repair. Tombstones, their inscriptions obliterated by moss and in the process of being toppled by the roots of ancient trees, sat next to carefully maintained tombs which held flowers and candles and other evidence of recent visits.

Eventually we made our way back to our hotel, stopping along the way for coffee (of course) and picking up up a few snacks at our local grocery store. We slept very well.

Next up will be our first full day in Paris.

Heaven

Montparnasse Cemetery

Baudelaire's grave with messages and poems from admirers.

Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir with messages and mementos left by visitors.

top: A view of one of the less gloomy areas. bottom: Gravestone of the great chess master Alexander Alekhine.