Jim Morrison's Grave

A few years ago my husband and I took 3 weeks vacation in England, France and Italy. Having lived in France and Italy for many years I was excited to revisit the places I love. We were staying at the Hotel place de clichy in Paris, close to Montmartre, a few minutes from the famous Moulin Rouge and the Opera House. One of our interests was to visit Pere-Lachaise cimetiere. We took the Metro from Clichy Blvd and wound are way around to our destination. Little did we know the cimetiere closed at 6PM and we got there at 6:05 PM. The wall surrounding the cimetiere is partial cement and very tall.(At front entrance. If you walk around just a bit you get to a smaller entrance, down a very short street. I yelled for someone to let me in as I could hear voices on the other side of the wall, but to no avail. The next day we went back and the inside was revealed to us by a very nice worker who was contemplating fixing a cobblestone. Once you walk past the few cars parked inside you begin your assent to a most peaceful, embracing, place. I advise you to get the little map of where everyone of “importance” is buried. The cimetiere is sectioned off in groups and one can get lost fairly easy. Jim Morrison’s resting place is easy to find. Just follow the majority of the visitors. The gravesite was cordoned off with yellow tape and that and a guard are supposed to keep you front climbing in and on his grave. Hushed voices whisper tidbits about their feelings of Jim Morrison. It is quite a reverent experience. If you stand quietyly what you become aware of is the songs of birds and the beauty of the gardens. Many of the memorial cripts are in various forms of decay, while others are cared for with love. Apparently there was once a bust of Jim at the headstone but it was stolen. The site appears quite small. There is a cement wall around this small space and the center is dirt. I stayed at the site for about 20 minutes and the small crowd of people changed as the minutes ticked by. The overal emotion is serene and peaceful. The weather was warm and inviting. Many of the graves of well known personalities are accessible from there but if you want to visit Piaf you have a lengthy climb up winding paths. It is a warm feeling to know that Jim Morrison is resting in the “Poets Corner” and is surrounded by serious authors as he always wanted to be remembered as. A trip well worth taking. I left with a mixture of emotions bordering on sad to extremely peaceful. Go with no expectations and see for yourself how wonderful a trek it really is. (Wear comfortable shoes and take water!

how tourists have willing defaced the graves of others in the cemetary with spray paint in order to make it easier to find Jim Morrison’s grave. Then the potheads sit atop other graves and smoke pot there in the cemetery.

To reaffirm my wish to live life.

“The movie will begin in five moments,
The mindless voice announced,
All those unseated will await the next show.”

The cemetery, and all that makes it, is an unfortunate excuse for a tourist destination more than the repository of Jim’s body or soul, or that of Wilde or any of the others for that matter. If there is one place in the world I would not like to be buried, it is at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Scatter my ashes off La Pointe du Raz any day. I am sure now, that his soul is not here… perhaps, even less is. And yet, one must go, to know that.

Perhaps a full moon night at the cemetery must be stolen and an offering of a different nature made to evoke what one cannot recognise by day… behind the iron fencing, the worn album cover, the withering dandelions and the watchful gaze of the uniformed Sûreté.

often a bit crowded and hard to find, it is still worth the treck for any Doors fan.

All over the area, losers have scrawled messages on other people’s tombs. They should exhume him and send him somewhere else.

everywhere, du genre “Jim’s over here” on other people’s gravestones, lots of ill-looking cats and some pale faced goth types smoking joints and failing to look scary.

I didn’t set out to see it though, just happened upon it. So maybe I would have found that cool if I had travelled across the world for it.

All of Pere LaChaise is interesting. Wear comfortable shoes.

First off, don’t expect the grave to look like the movie version at all! Very non-descript, and groomed by the cemetary probably quite often…not much graffiti..cool to see though..after an amazing walk/adventure through most of the cemetary
Go to the cafe right outside the cemetary..lots of memorobillia, and ‘characters’ of the area that haven’t left that era…Jim lives!!

I’m saying it’s worth visiting because Pere Lachaise Cemeterie is worth visiting. The crypts are really quite beautiful, and the cemetery has an eerie, mystical quality.

Morrison’s grave itself isn’t really very impressive. He’s had more than one headstone over the years. In the early days, it was a small concrete block, and the grave was surrounded by seashells. Later, the bust was added, and I think, a more elaborate name-block thing. The bust was at some point stolen. I seem to remember that it was recovered, but never replaced because it caused too many problems. Now there is the headstone placed there by Jim’s parents, and the inscription by his father, which is in Greek, and says something to the effect of “he created his own demons”.

Pamela Morrison and Bill Siddons had plans for a better, more fitting headstone. It was to have a couple of lines from “Run With Me”: “we should see the gates by morning, we should be inside by evening”, with a picture in porcelain made from one of Pam’s personal photos of Jim. No one is sure why that didn’t happen. Pam was also supposed to have been buried with Jim, but again, no one’s really quite sure why she isn’t.

When I’ve gone (twice), there has been writing on his headstone. The first time “Hello, I love you” was written in lipstick on it. They just have to clean the writing off all the time, or else it would get way out of hand. I think what made the cemetery do this is that there is graffiti all over the cemetery. Things like “Jim, this way—>” and song lyrics. These are on other people’s crypts and headstones. That’s just wrong.

Yes, there are gendarmies around, and hidden cameras, but after that mob broke in on one of the anniversaries of Jim’s death, can you blame them?

There’s a homeless guy that is often there, “watching over Jim”, and there are always interesting things being left on his grave. You’ll probably meet some interesting people there too. Then of course there’s the speculation that it’s not even Jim’s grave: Ray Manzarek is supposed to have protested that the grave was far too short to be Jim’s… (the logic of this statement is underwhelming). You can go and pretend to half-believe this wishful thought.

It’s an interesting cultural experience. For a different sort of culture, visit Heloise and Abelard and Chopin while you’re there. For a surprisingly similar sort of culture as Morrison, visit Oscar Wilde.