Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Must See

Théodore
Géricault’s
tomb, with a Allan Kardec
Notable Residents strong following. His tomb
depiction of ▶ Kardec was the founder
The Raft of of a 19th-century spiritual
the Medusa cult, which still has a
is perpetually covered in

MUR DES FÉDÉRÉS pilgrims’ flowers.
George
Following France’s defeat in the Franco- Rodenbach
Prussian War in 1871, a left-wing group
revolted, setting up the Paris Commune. The monument to this 19th-century poet
After 72 days, government troops depicts him rising out of his tomb with a rose
marched on the city and in a week of in the hand of his outstretched arm.
brutal street fighting, much of the city
was burned and thousands were killed. Oscar Wilde
Mur des Fédérés in Père Lachaise is ◀ The Irish dramatist,
where the last Communard rebels aesthete and great
were shot by government forces. wit was exiled from
virtuous Britain to die of
drink and dissipation in
Paris in 1900. American-
British artist Jacob Epstein
sculpted his tomb.
Marcel Proust
The French novelist brilliantly chronicled the
belle époque in In Search of Lost Time.
Sarah
Bernhardt
▶ The great French
tragedienne, who died
in 1923 aged 78, was
once the most famous
actress in the world.
Edith Piaf
Known as the “Little Sparrow” because of her
size, Piaf was the 20th century’s greatest French
popular singer. In her tragic voice, she sang of the
sorrows and woes of the Paris working class.
Jim Morrison
▶ The Doors’ lead
singer died in Paris
in 1971 at the
age of 27. When
he died, he
was one of
the most
famous
singers in the
world. The
circumstances
of his death are
still a big mystery.

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