Some Go to the Louvre. I Hit the Crypts.

   The Cemetery of Montparnasse, Paris

More Images from Above and Below Montparnasse, Paris

I would rather experience history in a more tangible way than being kept at a distance from a painting, separated by red velvet ropes and bullet-proofed glass. Although, nothing says "fabulous" like red velvet ropes.... 

That said, I spent three days above and below Paris. The people interred there and their stories are profound. Some were innocents who were exhumed from the old cemeteries and dumped "placed" in the quarries to make room for the newly deceased. Others, directly above ground in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, were more fortunate, more privileged, and without question, more respected. Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), Samuel Beckett (1906–1989),Brassaï (1899–1984), Serge Gainsbourg (1928–1991), Susan Sontag (1933–2004), and Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) & Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980).