Montmartre: Cemetery of the Large Quarries

In a previous blog post, I linked to a video about how difficult it was to find Montmartre Cemetery. My first search ultimately ended in failure, however I got some spectacular views of the cemetery from above.

Today, I finally got to visit Montmartre Cemetery. It was so worth the visit! I truly enjoyed every moment in this cemetery. At the time, I expected to return to this gem of a cemetery, but my schedule didn’t allow for it. Regardless, I still got to see about 30-40% of the cemetery. If I ever return to Paris, this is the first cemetery visit on my list.

During my journey today, I was accompanied by Ziyi. She is a friend in my French class. We both have the same level of French, being not that great. We still try our best though. We definitely communicate better in Chinese than in French! Ziyi and I spent the day together, first on a tour of Montmartre that was all in French. And, finally, on a visit to the Montmartre Cemetery. When we first arrived at the cemetery, I hadn’t asked for her permission to film her. As soon as she realized I was filming, she said it was okay to include her in the video. That was so kind of her. Ziyi truly made this cemetery visit something special. It was a pleasure to spend this time with her. Thank you, Ziyi!

Here is a little history and some factual information about Montmartre Cemetery.

The next video is a walkthrough of the cemetery. Keep in mind that I didn’t have time to visit the entire cemetery. It was so large. But, I covered as much ground as I could with the allotted time.

Montmartre Cemetery holds a special place in my heart. Of all the cemeteries I visited, this was the one that I feel didn’t get enough attention from me. It was such a unique place, with burials underneath a bridge, and levels upon levels of burials, reaching from the bottom of the quarry up to street level. It was such an architectural feat of beauty. C’est magnifique!