On the Bike

Today we hired bikes and headed over the river towards Notre Dame then ditched them at the Hotel du Ville. There was an installation outside which when viewed through a lens, turned 3D, but viewed with the eye wasn’t – clever. A stroll of the streets led us uphill where in the distance, we stumbled on a cemetery, which was quite an experience. Inside the 5 metre high stone walls, we found the grave of Jim Morrison on which someone had scattered cigarettes and placed a bottle of Ballantynes whiskey for his ghost to enjoy. A girl, who might have been the granddaughter of someone who remembered The Doors, was drawing and writing a memorial on the root of a nearby tree. Others had done the same up its trunk and as we were leaving the site, a young Korean was carving something into the bark. Later we found the grave of the painter, Modigliani. On the slab was a tin of pencils and when I took one out, found it was inscribed with the National Gallery of Australia. Someone had placed a red rose on the outstretched Christ figure on Edith Piaf”s grave .Oscar Wilde’s memorial was smothered in red lipstick kisses! A girl with earplugs sitting in front of Chopin’s grave was listening to his piano. Many graves had pieces of sculpture upon them and some outstanding pieces were on the memorials to victims of the Nazi atrocities in WW 11. The cemetery was very popular, with the tourists, that is, though I have heard that people are dying to get in there. It was an amazing place. I had a beer and Sharon a dessert at a cafe just outside the wall and I drew a sketch of it (the wall,not the beer) in the sun. We had an interesting ride back for a few kilometres along some very busy avenues and large roundabouts in peak hour. I was in front and Sharon was on an elastic bungee rope behind. It was good fun and good practise for the Arc d’ Triomph in the car next week.