Saturday, July 4, 2009

Le Cemetière Montparnasse

Mary explained that this is a Jewish tradition to lay stones on the grave. This is my favorite photograph.  I love the pebbles arranged in a circle.

This couple is immortalized in bed with their clothes on.  Anyone have an explanation?

My friend Mary  Gilbert talked me into another cemetery tour at Cemetière Montparnasse.  She's an expert,  so although this is not usually my thing , I must confess I really did enjoy her tour, despite the rain.

8 comments:

alaine@éclectique said...

Have no idea why they're fully dressed but I did look him up - Charles Pigeon, a dealer in lamps. He has his notebook in his hand. Perhaps Mrs Pigeon lay down waiting for him to get home and then they discussed the day's events!

Nice photos; I've learnt two things tonight reading your post!

Daryl said...

It is indeed tradition to lay stones, pebbles on a headstone .. its to show you've visited... my mom never liked this tradition she said it weighed down the soul of the deceased .. so when we visit her (and dad's) grave we leave little 'silver' hearts I found in a shop ...

Anonymous said...

Well surely, if you know the world will be visiting, you put on some clothes. At least, I do.

Virginia said...

AH,
HA!!! Actually when we walked up on this grave, my first thoughts were something along the lines of they must have had many memorable moments in bed ! Guess you're right though, Madame probably insisted that they look more presentable for the world! :)

PeterParis said...

I also looked for more explanations about the dressed Pigeon couple when I made a post about the Montparnasse cemetery (http://peter-pho2.blogspot.com/search/label/Montparnasse%20Cemetery), but have not found a better one the ones already given here! :-)

Virginia said...

Merci Peter! Your post was just great. How did I miss Serge??? Probably because it was raining and we hurried through. I thought he was resting at Père Lachaise. Well Serge's grave is definitely on the new list for next week!

MadAboutParis said...

We missed Serge because the rain had begun - next time Cherie!

Janet Kincaid said...

The stones are called "ebenezers" and are meant as a remembrance. The hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" refers to an ebenezer with this words in the second stanza:

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

I always leave an ebenezer on the graves of my grandparents, when I visit their resting places. Grandpa Bang's grave also gets a can of Pepsi. :-)