Art & architecture - Paris e-guide: The Travel Guide with its Own Website - page 103

North

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
de St-Denis local history
22bis rue Gabriel Péri, St-Denis • 01 42 43 37 57
Q St-Denis Porte de Paris
Open 10-5:30 Mon-Fri (to 8 Thu), 2:30-6:30 Sat & Sun

Set in a former Carmelite convent, this museum alone
merits a trip out to St-Denis. Highlights include the
cramped reconstructed nuns' cells and a unique col-
lection of posters from the 1871 Paris Commune. Adm

4 E4

Musée Gustave Moreau artist's home
14 rue de la Rochefoucauld, 9ème • 01 48 74 38 50
www.musee-moreau.fr Open 10-12:40 & 2-5:15 Wed-Mon
Troubled by the thought of anonymity, the
Symbolist painter Moreau (1825-98) established an
autobiographical museum in the studio and apartment
he shared with his parents just before his death.
Thousands of Moreau's often mystical paintings and
drawings are on show, as well as memorabilia. Adm

11 A2

Porte St-Denis & Porte St-Martin
These towering twin gates, just yards apart, were
intended to lend the city a Roman grandeur. They are
particularly striking today, in what has become a
rather seedy part of north Paris. The larger Porte St-
Denis was erected in 1672 and depicts battle scenes
marking the triumph of Louis XIV's armies along the
Rhine, while the Porte St-Martin was constructed two
years later to commemorate the capture of Besançon.

Last Resting Places
Tree-lined Cimetière de Père-Lachaise is the largest,
best-known cemetery in Paris. After the remains of
dramatist Molière and poet La Fontaine were trans-
ferred here in 1817, it began attracting famed
“residents” and skilled sculptors. The most visited
grave is that of singer Jim Morrison; the quirkiest is
the statue of 19th-century journalist Victor Noir:

women rub his now-faded crotch to increase their
chances of getting pregnant. The famous dead of
Cimetière de Montmartre include the writer Zola,
painter Degas and film director François Truffaut.
Meanwhile, the small Cimetière de Passy has the
highest density of famous names. Look out for the
painter Manet, composers Debussy and Fauré, and
actor Fernandel. For details, see p223 .