I'm also very glad that blogspot is working again! I checked this afternoon and it was down.
I went today on a modern pilgrimage of my own making! I went with Rebekah and Liz to the Pere Lachaise cemetery. Rebekah is a HUGE Oscar Wilde fan and so she HAD to go to the cemetery and kiss his grave. Apparently many, many people each year go to his grave and kiss/mark the grave stone. Lipstick is ALL over the gravestone along with writings of sayings to Oscar. Things such as flowers, notes, and a shoe are left at the site as an "offering" to him. It made me think of the 4 functions of a ritual discussed at the Intro to World Religions class at GSU. By going and kissing the grave, people are 1) using their body as an instrument in the ritual. They are 2) connected to a community of Oscar Wilde fans (knowing that others are still fans and appreciate his work). Going to the grave 3) connects the person to the divine (and in this case that would be Wilde...nowhere else can a person be closer to a dead person than at that dead person's grave). As well, it 4) orients the person to the "sacred space" of Wilde's last resting place. I have not read any of Wilde's works (though I do have a book of his on my Kindle that I need to read) but I went for the experience. I was a spectator, and outsider looking in. I respected the ritual by taking pictures of Rebekah, but I did not participate. I felt that if I also kissed the grave, I would be disrespecting those that truly loved Wilde's works. It would be like someone not confirmed (in churches that still have confirmation) taking communion. They would not understand or appreciate the ritual as much as one who was an insider or part of that community.
Liz and I left Rebekah at the cemetery and made our way to St. Sulpice Church. This is a church that was in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (where the albino monk smashed the floor looking for a lead as to what the Priori of Sion was hiding--yet turned out to be a false lead). I had thought I had been here before, but after seeing it I realized I had not. Yet the ONLY reason I went to the church is because it was in Brown's book. Paris has so many churches, and so it is hard to reach all of them in a short time, yet I wanted to go to this one specifically. I wanted to see what Brown had written about. This church was far less crowded than Notre Dame or Sacre Coeur, yet it was slightly more crowded than some of the other random churches we had stopped along our walks. I overheard some ladies (speaking in English!) at the site where the scene in the book (and movie) take place saying "this is where it happened." They then went on to discuss part of the book. I asked them if the only reason they came to the church is because of the book and they smiled and said yes. I'm curious to know if the attendance in visitation has gone up since Brown's book/movie. I would be surprised if it had not. I'm sure, though, that it has died down some because of the time that has lapsed since the popularity in the book and movie. However, it did remind me of the time I went to Rome with my mom several years (eek I'm old! Ok it was like 4 or 5 years) back. We were on an organized tour group and our tour guide happened to take us to some of the spots in Brown's Angels and Demons (but not because of the book). The guide did briefly mention that this fountain was where one body was found or that statue pointed to a certain location (in the book...she also mentioned that in the book the angel is pointing opposite of what it actually is in reality). There was a couple on the tour that told me they were going to go to every place mentioned in the book during their stay in Rome (the tour for was for over a week). It was because of the book they were going to the sites. I have also looked online and have seen organized tours to visit all of the sites in Brown's books. I would say these are modern day secular pilgrimage spots. Though many of the places in his books are holy places, the only reason some people go to them is because of a piece of fiction. It speaks volumes to the impact literature can have on a place.
On an unrelated note yet still on a site in Paris, I was quite fascinated at the Pere Lachaise cemetery at the pluralism that was taking place there. You could find a Jewish gravestone next to a Christian gravestone, and down the way could be a Muslim gravestone (we actually saw the gravestone of three Kurds that were diplomats in France that were killed in a terrorist attack in Berlin). As well, there were many pagan symbols right next to a cross. At one gravestone there was an Egyptian obelisk with a cross on top. Not unlike what can be found all over Rome, a non-Christian symbol was made into a Christian symbol by adding a cross. Another fascinating gravestone had a Mayan carving on it (the person was born in Guatemala). Liz made the comment that "we are all equal in death." People can mourn together, in peace.
Now...on to the good stuff!
My yummy escargot from last night. Unfortunately that was the ONLY good thing about the restaurant.
Look! The Eiffel Tower is so pretty at night!
Pere Lachaise Cemetery
YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Oscar Wilde's
SMOOCH!
Cool grave marker across from Mr. Wilde
Rebekah placing stones at the grave
Rebekah kissing the grave
There was a note that said "viva la revolution!"...but I couldn't find a name on the marker to figure out who he was
The three Kurds killed in Berlin
The obelisk with the cross
Ummmm...I told you there were vampires!
Jim Morrison's
The tree right by Jim Morrison's grave...since the grave is now blocked off people have marked the tree
Really cool marker over by Chopin's
Chopin's
The Mayan gravestone
Fountain outside St. Sulpice
St. Sulpice
Liz and I passed by the entrance to the crypt at St. Sulpice and decided to go in (not sure if it is normally open to tourists). Many things (like this) were gated off and it was VERY dark. Luckily I have a flashlight app on my phone so I was able to see some...but it was CREEPY!
Fontaine de Medicis at Jardin Luxembourg
Statue in the garden
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