We will be taking the Paris Canal cruise from Quai d'Orsay to Villette, or the reverse, and were wondering if it is feasible to combine it with a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery. We've been told that it takes most of a day to visit Père Lachaise. With only 7 days to see Paris, including Versailles, we don't want to waste an entire day on one particular cemetery.
Any thoughts out there.
Thanks
Maureen.. Yes, you can .I would go to Pere Lachaise in the morning and then relax on the cruise. We get off the metro at Pere Lachaise-- there are 2 places to get off.. and we cross the street and go into the flower shop and get a map there. Many get the map at the cemetery , but we have found this map to be better. I would spend about 3-4 hours there , have a nice lunch, and then cruise.. There is a good book here called Permanent Parisians about the people in the cemetery. You can decide who you want to see ahead of time. We are photographers and Pere Lachaise is one of our favorite places. Don't forget to see Chopin.
One could spend possibly the whole day there, but we usually just walk around for a few hours. That's plenty of time to experience a sense of place. If you're just there for atmosphere, rather than trying to look up every famous grave, a couple hours will be just right.
See this earlier discussion on Pere Lachaise: Here. Personally, I think a few hours will give you the flavor - one of the links posted in the discussion has an interactive map (very cool) that you can use to plot out particular graves you'd like to see.
The only thing I would add is that Pere Lachaise isn't particularly convenient to the start or the end of the canal tour - it's most convenient to the middle. But Metro makes everything easy. The canal boat tour is great. 2 1/2 hours. Informative and relaxing.
Hi Maureen,
I would definately recomment a visit to PL.
But, make it a short one. (We) don't have to stay
there like all the "permanent Parisiens".
Paris has far too much to offer to waste hours and hours in a cemetary.
So, feel free to stay a half hour and leave!
Enjoy!
