Sunday, June 1. Since finishing the Mysteres Parisiens by Claude Izner (all SEVEN of them!), I've been reading a biography of Berthe Morisot (in French, bien sur). So today I'm on a mission. A pilgrimage of sorts to the Cimetiere de Passy to see the grave of Edouard Manet (and his wife, Suzanne Leenhof) and Berthe Morisot (and her husband, Eugene Manet, the younger brother of Edouard). There is only one monument for the four of them, very simple. It is almost impossible to read any of the names engraved in the stone. A bust of Edouard, sculpted by his brother-in-law, on a short column, is the only distinguishing feature.
The Cimetiere de Passy is full of notables: Claude Debussy, Jacques Ibert, Gabriel Faure, M. et Mme Cognacq-Jay (founders of La Samaritaine department store) and a young woman, Marie Bashkirtseff, who I read about in the Morisot biography. Marie, a Russian immigrant, died of tuberculosis at age 24 but had packed a lot of living into that short time. Apparently, she was a painter, a singer, and a writer, best known for her journals. Her monument contains a replica of her atelier. It is a chapel-like building and far-and-away the largest one in the cemetery (in a cemetery full of impressive mausoleums!). From most vantage points in the cemetery, there is an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.
The Cimetiere de Passy is virtually across the street from the Palais de Chaillot, perched on the top of the hill (Trocadero). It's hard to imagine, looking at all that is there today (including a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the river), that a Bertha Morisot painting "View from Trocadero" looks completely pastoral.
As I'm leaving the cemetery, there is a lot of activity in the little square in front of the entrance (the Place Jacques Marti). A lot of men are scurrying around a sizeable metal structure and attaching the hooks from a giant crane waiting nearby. I ask one of the men what's happening, and he tells me that the metal frame is the "roof" for a swimming pool ON TOP of the 20-story apartment building across the way! So I hang around for awhile to watch this happen. An very well-groomed older woman who's walking her cute little dog asks me if I know what's going on, I tell her, so she stops to watch it too! There's a lot of preparation and the "take-off" is slow, to make sure it doesn't damage any nearby trees or cars, but once it's air-borne, it all happens very quickly. Within about 15 minutes, it has disappeared behind the foliage planted on the rooftop of the building. My compatriot wonders whether the swimming pool is "privee" or whether it belongs to the ocupants of the building. Her guess is that it belongs to the penthouse apartment!
Afterwards, I walk down the hill and peer into the CineAqua complex. This is a cinema-cum-aquarium (or aquarium-cum-cinema) affair which I guess would be worthwhile if you were entertaining a troop of Brownies for the day! I wind up next to the Eiffel Tower and indulge myself by taking a taxi home (there are no metro stops near the ET!). There's a great taxi stand along the street between the ET and the river (hey, they're not stupid).
Tonight, I'm starting a new series of Mysteres Parisiens (one of the three recommended by Olivia). These are by Jean-Francois Parot (a diplomat and a historian) and are set in the Paris of the 18th century. Stay tuned.
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