The world's most visited cemetery

I spent a lazy Sunday morning walking around the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise (please forgive the spelling - I haven't yet figured out how to add accents to French words using a standard English keyboard!). This cemetery has some very famous residents ranging from writers, artists, composers, singers and insurgents.

It was particularly atmospheric walking around the almost 50-hectare site in the misty rain, but not in a creepy kind of way. The mood was more reflective, as visitors stepped along the cobblestones admiring the intricate carvings of the tombstones.

The first grave I went in search of was that of Edith Piaf (or Little Sparrow as she was affectionately called). The diminutive but dynamo singer was burried here in 1963. 

Nearby was the grave of Oscar Wilde. The winged angel on Wilde's tombstone is covered with red lipstick kisses courtesy of ardent fans. The protective glass barrier enveloping the grave also bears tributes to the writer.

The Doors' frontman Jim Morrison was buried here in 1971. Morrison's grave has also been fenced off (at the request of his family) after fans partied a little too hard at the gravesite.