Friday, January 22, 2010

Paris: At the Grave of Jim Morrison



















I've mentioned visiting the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris before, and paying homage to Jim Morrison and others there. Three times is a charm. Here are two shots of the second visit, on July 8, 1983. At that point, everything was intact: a bust of Morrison, his grave, and a lot of graffiti.  The dude on  the left is Heinz, from Germany.














Graffiti is on adjacent headstones. Heinz on left, Marina from Italy on right. Met them  then and there, with great conversation in broken English. I could speak a little German and no Italian phrases, so English worked better for all of us. They wanted to know more about certain lyrics on live albums, and about the USA.  I don't remember the guy crouching by Morrison's bust at all -- maybe he's a ghost.













These shots remind me of my old pal Wallace Fowlie (1908-1998), who was hip about Morrison despite having earned a Ph.D in 1936. In the 1980s, he began giving lectures about French poet Arthur Rimbaud and made clear connections to Bob Dylan and Morrison; I first met him at the Durham Public Library when he himself was nearly eighty years old. He polished these lectures and turned them into an interesting book: Rimbaud and Jim Morrison: The Rebel As Poet (A Memoir) (1993/1994). At some point, a lot more to say on all that jazz. 

Père-Lachaise is a sprawling, spectacular cemetery worth exploring if ever in Paris: just don't mind the free-floating spirits and feral cats.

Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.

8 comments:

Lana Gramlich said...

My ex was a huge Doors fan. I learned to like them, but ended up disappointed when I read up on the band. Morrison was a total dick. I've always admired Ray Manzerek, though. Talented.

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jodi said...

Erik, I would for sure visit when in Paree. I love free floating spirts and feral cats!

pattinase (abbott) said...

We saw this last time we were in Paris. It was January and Pere Lachaise was actually closed until the ice melted. We're going again this May and I will get a digital picture this time. So many other interesting bodies buried there.

Erik Donald France said...

I love the book Permanent Parisians. Great stuff. Tons of tombs, so little time . . .

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