A VISIT TO THE TOMB OF JEAN PAUL SARTRE IN PARIS( IN APRIL 2023)
" In love, one and one are one".....Jean-Paul Sartre
"Self-knowledge is no guarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it."........ Simone De Beauvoir
France has very rich cultural heritage. French literature began in the Middle Ages, and the country has a long history in fine arts, music and dance. Cinema occupies an important place in the country's cultural life. French cuisine is popular around the world, as is the wine produced in the country. People love its museums, old cathedrals boulevards ,bread, cheese and wine. And Paris is the throbbing heart of France. It has a reputation of being a romantic and cultural city.
Paris
Paris is home to a whopping 130 museums! From small local galleries to large national museums, there's something for everyone. If you appreciate art, culture, and creativity, then Paris has much to offer. Some of the most famous museums include the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay. The city is also known for its high-quality gastronomy and the terraces of its cafés. Paris is a city filled with stunning historical landmarks that include the Eiffel Tower , Les Invalides , the Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe, the list goes on. The city’s skyline is shaped by centuries of history. It stands as a testament to its timeless beauty. When it comes to food and wine, Paris is second to none. With its incredible variety of restaurants, bars, and bistros, this city has something for everyone.
The City of Paris comprises twenty administrative districts. Parisians use word “arrondissement” for "district ". Montparnasse is a district (14th ) in Paris city. Montparnasse is a neighbourhood situated on the Seine ( river) left bank where Boulevard du Montparnasse and Rue de Rennes meet in the 15th district ( arrondissement) of Paris. Rue means road and boulevard in French means a wide road with tall trees. Known for its wide boulevards, Montparnasse is a residential part of the city with some old and historic cafes, brasseries and restaurants. The term “brasserie” originally meant brewery, and the culinary sense of the term expanded to cover eating establishments that brewed their own beer on the premises. La Couple, La Rotonde and Le Select are still frequented cafes cum brasseries in this area . The Montparnasse district used to be a popular hub for writers and poets of The School of Paris who flocked to the area for cheap housing and studios. The painter Marc Chagall, the American writer Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, André Dérain, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, dancer Josephine Baker and many other legendary figures were once regulars at these cafes. We visited two prominent places in Montparnasse in April 2023.
(( (1) Montparnasse Tower
While many people believe that the Eiffel Tower affords the best panoramic views of Paris, Parisians tend to disagree. The 59-floor "Montparnasse Tower" is surely a better place to enjoy breathtaking views of the whole city. Visitors are allowed to go up to the 56th floor .The speeding lifts take less than two minutes to reach 56th floor or the top of Montparnasse. Tower. From the tower, one can have 360 degree view of Paris city. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum, prominent parks, the Pantheon, prominent cemeteries, River Seine and many more prominent structures are clearly visible from the glass observatory on the top floor. There is a restaurant and a souvenir cum gift shop for tourists .
Coming from Alfortville , we travelled by RER- D train towards nord ( north ) and changed over to Metro 4 to arrive at Montparnasse. Montparnasse Tower is home to Europe's highest restaurant, Le Ciel de Paris (meaning The Sky of Paris). The Montparnasse district used to be a popular hub for writers and poets of The School of Paris who flocked to the area for cheap housing and studios. The 360 Café is the highest panoramic bar in Europe. The 360 Café welcomes you during visiting hours for a food lover’s break (sandwiches, salads, croque-monsieurs, cold and hot drinks, desserts), looking out over the most breathtaking views of Paris.
The Montparnasse Tower stands tall at an imposing height of 689 feet, making it the third tallest building in France . The tower was designed by Eugene Beaudouin, Louis Hoym and Urbain Cassan . The 59-storey tower is mostly utilized by commercial offices. It also has a gorgeous observation deck, open terraces and a restaurant on the 56th floor. Although the monolithic design of the building doesn’t match the urban landscape of Paris, its distinctiveness is evident.The tower is predominantly an office building, but the 56th and 59th floors are open to visitors. It is the tallest building in Paris. (The Eiffel Tower, at 324 metres, is taller but is considered a structure, not a building.
(2 (2) Montparnasse Cemetery
Opened in 1824, the 47 acres Montparnasse cemetery is home to hundreds of trees, statues from artists such as Constantin Brancusi, and the graves of dozens of celebrated artists, writers and other figures that include Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir (buried side by side), Charles Baudelaire, Samuel Beckett (who spent his last years residing nearby), Théophile Bader (founder of the Galeries Lafayette), Auguste Bartholdi ( sculptor of the Statue of Liberty), American writer and critic Susan Sontag, Jean Baudrillard (Postmodern philosopher), Marguerite Duras (French writer and filmmaker), Chaim Soutine (Franco-Russian expressionist painter), Camille Saint-Saëns (19th-century French composer), Juliette Greco (French singer and actress), French short fiction master Guy de Maupassant and many more well-known names in the fields of art, literature and music. This green haven is a lovely place to stroll and contemplate. On April 19, 1980, Jean-Paul Sartre’s chaotic funeral procession was joined by more than 50,000 mourners as it moved towards the Montparnasse cemetery where his ashes were buried after cremation. Many leading names from films, fashion, theatre, art, drama and music joined this procession. Singer Juliette Greco, actors François Périer, Delphine Seyrig, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Mouloudji, Léo Ferré, authors Claude Mauriac, Michel Foucault, André Glucksman, Françoise Sagan Joined the procession to the cemetery. Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre's grave sits among regular family graves. Jean-Paul Sartre was cremated the in Père Lachaise cemetery, then his remains buried in Montparnasse.
Sartre's tomb is frequented by large number of visitors .Apart from Sartre, visitors also come to see the tombs of Baudelaire, Gye Dr maupassant and many more. They bring flowers and. bouquets . At Sartre's tomb, we saw people dropping their metro or train tickets along with flowers. I also saw people kissing the tombstone . Red coloured lipstick marks were distinctly visible .Some visitors were sitting close to tomb and having snacks. Following the tradition, we also placed our metro rail tickets on the tombstone . On the day of our visit, spring was in the air. The trees and the flowers were blooming. We were told that the fall and winter seasons add silence and a meditative grace to the place.
Sartre was buried here, when tens of thousands of mourners filled the whole cemetery to capacity. On that day Paris’s citizens had scrambled across headstones and climbed trees in chaotic scenes, trying to get a glimpse of their beloved hero before his casket was lowered into its grave. According to newspaper reports of the service, there was mayhem in the now-quiet cemetery that day as many in the crowd surged to see their philosophical idol before he was laid to rest.
About Simon De Beauvoir, the Guardian newspaper wrote (on June 10, 2005) this:-
."Women, you owe her everything!" So read the headline announcing Simone de Beauvoir's death in April 1986. It was a phrase repeated over and over at her funeral, where some 5,000 mourners gathered to pay tribute to the writer many consider the greatest French woman of the 20th century, author of The Second Sex, and mother of the modern women's movement. De Beauvoir's ashes duly found their place next to those of Jean-Paul Sartre, her partner in life, though never in marriage. He had died six years almost to the hour before her, and her last book, Farewell to.Sartre, was the only one he had never read prior to publication."
On Jean-Paul Sartre's death, The New York Times ( 16th April 1980) wrote this:-
" Sartre said, "The task of the intellectual is not to decide where there are battles but to join them wherever and whenever the people wage them. Commitment is an act, not a word." His sense of commitment precluded homage. For this reason he rejected the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded him in 1964, on the ground that he did not wish to be "transformed into an institution." He also turned down the Legion of Honor for its bourgeois connotations."
Looking at the number of Sartre lovers that keep visiting the tomb , I am reminded of a Punjabi couplet . I quote the couplet to conclude this brief write up:-
“Taajdaaraan dhe na ameeran dhe.
Dheeve jaldhe sadha Faqeeraan dhe.
(Not for those who wear crowns,
Not for those who store riches,
These lamps burn for those
Who reject worldly possessions)
( Avtar Mota)
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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