Interview with Benoît Gallot, Conservator, Père-Lachaise Cemetery

October 13, 2023 by Carolyn Campbell

While in Paris last fall, I was strolling through the cemetery when I serendipitously crossed paths with Benoît Gallot, Conservator of Père-Lachaise.  He is in charge of shepherding the spirits of both the living and the dead at Père-Lachaise, and lives with his wife and four children in an apartment on the grounds.

Coincidentally, I had just purchased his debut book, La vie secrète d’un cimetière (The Secret Life of a Cemetery) the night before. I stopped and introduced myself, as well as mentioning a mutual friend, Marie Beleyme, a noted historian of the cemetery who consulted on both our books.  Published by Les Arènes, Gallot’s book is in French, sold on Amazon, and can be found in bookstores throughout Paris.   An English translation will be published by Greystone Books in Canada, the United States and England in the near future.

Benoît said he knew my name and my book City of Immortals (mark me surprised and humbled), plus he had seen me on TV the day before. It had been All Saints’ Day (la Toussaint), and I was visiting the tomb of Héloïse and Abelard when a crew from French TV Ch 3 asked if they could interview me.

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Meeting Oscar Wilde’s Grandson, Merlin Holland

May 15, 2022 by Carolyn Campbell

Photos by Fritz Holden, Reed Hutchinson and Carolyn Campbell

On April 28, 2022 I had the pleasure of attending a lecture at UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Library given by Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, titled “Confounding the Critics, Surviving the Scandal: The Remarkable Reputation of Oscar Wilde.” I had met Merlin years before my bestselling book, City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, was published. I was thrilled this time to gift him with a copy.

Following the lecture, we had a delightful conversation. I then walked through the Clark Library to view several items on display from the unparalleled Wilde collection, including a copy of De Profundis, plus personal correspondence from Wilde to his first and last lovers, Robert Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas, respectively.

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Stories from Père Lachaise—Carolyn Campbell’s Photographic Art Springs to Life

November 20, 2021 by Carolyn Campbell

Diversions LA logoBy Genie Davis
Photos by Carolyn Campbell and Genie Davis

Reprinted from the November 18, 2021 issue of Diversions LA

Carolyn Campbell slide talk

Ooh la la—photographic artist and author Carolyn Campbell’s bestselling book, City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris came to life at the Raymond Kabbaz Theatre in Los Angeles on November 6th, 2021.

An immersive multi-disciplinary festival, the 6-hour event paid tribute to the many artists resting in the cemetery, from Bizet to Jim Morrison.

The event included a photographic exhibition, film screening, artist talks, and book signing, as well as tasty baguettes and champagne. 

City of Immortals photo exhibition

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Nature Provides A Much Needed Balm

April 12, 2021 by Carolyn Campbell

Spring has sprung! Another season is upon us as we navigate the possibility of travel in 2021. To enliven this seasonal experience, though virtual, I have selected images taken on a trip to Père-Lachaise in spring of 2018 proving that nature provides a much needed balm after a long, stay-at-home winter.

No cemetery offers a more rewarding experience or is more historically significant than Père-Lachaise in the far eastern section of Paris—one of the most idyllic places – a forest, really. With 5,000 trees along its winding paths, it’s the largest public green space in the city. In the fall, it is a festival of color with the sounds of songbirds overhead. In spring, however, chestnut blossoms carpeting the grounds (and visitors) and filling the air with a sweet fragrance is an indescribable experience. A celebration of nature’s awakening from its winter slumber. It brings to mind a favorite quote by Honoré de Balzac who is buried there, “I seldom go out, but when I feel myself flagging I go out and cheer myself up in Père-Lachaise…while seeking out the dead I see nothing but the living.” 

Sweet-smelling pink and white chestnut blossoms carpet the cemetery.

Fall is the prime season to take photographs, imo; the yellow and orange leaves sharply contrasting with solemn gray tombs and iron railings, plus the unique Paris light filtering through latticed trees above. Nonetheless, when I made the trip to Paris one spring, to my delight there were breathtaking flower beds planted by the cemetery’s gardeners, as well as irises and daffodils blooming at well-tended grave sites. In addition, there was the lush foliage from the trees on the 107-acre site, including acacia, maple, beech, ash, lemon and chestnut. Père-Lachaise is, after all, the foremost garden-style cemetery in the world and was the model for all European and American cemeteries from the 19th century onward.

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GPS Tour App in French and English Celebrates the World’s Most Famous Cemetery and its Iconic Residents

October 31, 2020 by Carolyn Campbell

“I seldom go out, but when I feel myself flagging, I go out and cheer myself up in Père Lachaise…while seeking out the dead I see nothing but the living.”

— Honoré de Balzac, Père-Lachaise resident

What did I do with my lockdown time during COVID-19? I completed and launched the perfect travel guide for All Souls’ Day (November 2) with app developer STQRY. We have just released the City of Immortals GPS Tour App of the famed Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris for Apple and Google devices in French and English.

Based on my bestselling book, City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, the app (priced at $2.99 USD) provides visitation and transportation details, the general history of the cemetery, and background on the designs of the 19th-century funerary art and architecture to be found there. In addition, it features images, biographies, and navigation details to the gravesites of the same 84 cultural icons featured in the book, which celebrates this legendary necropolis that draws millions of tourists to the City of Light each year. (more…)