France

La France… meilleur pays du monde (according to some).

Well. Let's face it: the French have it all. The highest mountains, the wildest coasts, amazing buildings, superb food, wines to die for… so what's not to like? (The frustrating strikes, perhaps?)

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Thinking of our next destination: Italy and Portugal come to mind, or maybe the time has finally come for a US road trip…

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Montmartre

(vero;2020-Nov-30)

Also called Cimetière du Nord, it was opened in 1825. Follow the link to download a map of the cemetery with a list of the persons buried there (it will download automatically to your download folder). Note that at the time of writing the file was missing the pdf extension which you will have to add to open it in your pdf viewer.

Persons buried after 2012 are not on this list and can be found at the bottom of the cemetery information website (heading: “les derniers inhumés célèbres”).

Inside view of the Cimetière de Montmartre.

Sacha Guitry (1885-1957) - A very popular French stage and film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the so-called Théâtre de Boulevard. He was also known for his “bons mots”, many of which have passed on to posterity. Photo of Guitry by agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Émile Zola (1840-1902) - He was one of the most influential French writers of the literary school of Naturalism, his main work being the 20 volume opus of the Rougon-Macquart about the fate of a family under the Second Empire. He became involved in the Dreyfus Affair and published in 1898 the open letter J'accuse…! in which he accused the French government of anti-Semitism and of miscarriage of justice. He was brought to trial for criminal libel and fled into exil to England for nine months until an amnesty bill was passed, covering “all criminal acts or misdemeanours related to the Dreyfus affair…” Although his grave is still in Montmartre, his remains were transferred in 1908 to the Panthéon (where the great figures of the French nation are honoured). Painting of Zola from 1868 by Édouard Manet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of Zola from 1870 by Nadar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) - He was a French composer of the Romantic music movement of the 19th century. Click here to listen to an excerpt of the second movement of his Symphonie Fantastique. - Photo of Berlioz by Pierre Petit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Excerpt of the Symphonie Fantastique by HR-Sinfonieorchester, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) - He was a German poet, writer and literary critic, best known for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities and he spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris (from Wikipedia). Painting of Heine by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Michel Berger (1947-1992) and France Gall (1947-2018) - A very popular French singer and songwriter in the 70s and 80s, Michel Berger wrote songs and music for many artists like Françoise Hardy, Johnny Hallyday but most famously for his wife France Gall (click on their names to watch a video). He also wrote the music for the musical Starmania which became a huge hit. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack after playing tennis at the age of 44. His daughter Pauline who died of cystic fibrosis aged 19 in 1997 is buried next to him and France Gall has now joined them after her death in 2018 (our photo of the grave dates from 2017). Photo of Michel Berger © François Alquier, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons // Photo of France Gall in 1965 performing her winning title, Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son at the Eurovision song contest © Keystone-France / Gamma-Keystone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Henri Beyle, Stendhal (1783-1842) - French writer best known for his novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma). He is one of the masters of the French novel of the 19th century and is considered one of the early and foremost practitioners of Realism. His characters are young, passionate in their love and attitude to life and very ambitious. He was a lover of Italy and his epitaph (written in Italian) reads: Henry Beyle, Milanese, he wrote, he loved, he lived. Portrait of Stendhal by Olof Johan Södermark, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Yolande Gigliotti, Dalida (1933-1987) - Popular French singer born in Egypt to Italian parents. She was crowned Miss Egypt in 1954 and started her career as a film actor. She moved to France in December 1954 and obtained French nationality in 1961. She quickly abandoned the cinema to become a singer, landing her first hit in 1956 with Bambino (click on the song titles for a video). She had many hits in France but also internationally, among others Gigi l'amoroso. She embraced disco and again it was a success, one of her most emblematic song of this period being Monday, tuesday (laissez-moi danser). She was a much loved tragic figure, successful on stage but often unhappy in her private life and relationships. She committed suicide in 1987. Colour photo of Dalida from 1967 by an unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons // Black and white photo of Dalida from 1974 by unknown press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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