Monday 2 November 2009

Cimetière des Gonards I

Yesterday was All Saints, so on Saturday I took a walk in Gonards cemetary, one of the largest in the country with about 12 000 tombs, and a few celebrities, amongst which Edith Wharton. I'll have to go back, I didn't find her tomb. Good thing I went on Saturday, because Sunday we had our first real autumn storm 2009.
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Pour la Toussaint, samedi je me suis promenée dans le cimetière des Gonards (pas de jeux de mots svp !) C'est l'un des plus vastes du pays, avec environ 12 000 tombes et quelques célébrités, dont Edith Wharton, que je n'ai pas trouvées. Il faudra donc que j'y retourne...

22 comments:

Bob Crowe said...

Appropriately somber in late autumn colors. I really like how you got - what to call it? - the swell of mortality in the second picture.

Leif Hagen said...

Great All Saints Day cemetary photos! We rang a handbell in church today for every member who died in this past year.

akarui said...

C'est tres joli avec ces couleurs d'automne particulierement celle du haut. les feuilles tombees couvrent les tombes.

Lowell said...

You have to embiggen these pictures to get the full effect. They are excellent...I actually like cemeteries.

Do you know why they put fences around cemeteries? Too many people are dying to get in!

Sorry. I know it's old and bad, but couldn't resist.

But, tell me, do you usually haunt a cemetery on All Saints Day?

Have a great week!

That is the chicken said...

Gorgeous colours! Not a bad place to end up.

Dina said...

A great idea for All Saints Day. I love to see your grand old cemeteries.
I spent hours roaming the old one in Tiberias with the basalt tombstones. Will show you the pics soon.

Lee Spangler said...

Ciel: Tapirgal and I just read Wharton's Age of Innocence, which is about NYC not France. She was a remarkable French patriot and experienced first hand the horrors of WW1. and helped mainly Belgian refugees. People don't realize how horrible and how many deaths occurred during that war. It is now too long ago.

PERBS said...

I don't tie cemetary tombs to Halloween which we just celebrated BUT I do enjoy walking amoung the gravestones to see the beautiful work on some of them! I also find many benches at cemetaries.

Your photos of the tombs are really special -- such beautiful art work.

Sharon said...

Great shots. You captured them so well. The second shot is amazing for the sheer amount of tombs.

Sharon

Mario said...

Les cimetières offrent en tout temps une atmosphère très particulière et c'est surtout le cas à ce moment de l'année où les couleurs des arbres contrastes superbement avec le côté plus lugubre des lieux.

Très belles photos (Tu me donnes le goût d'y retourner aussi :-)

Cezar and Léia said...

Cet cimetière est très éminente et tu as une beau idée pour la date de aujourd'hui.
Léia

Small City Scenes said...

Wow, that is one huge cemetary. 12,00 tombs. I like to walk among the headstones and read them. beautiful pictures. MB

Halcyon said...

J'en suis sur il y a des gens qui appellent cette cimetière d'un autre nom, comme Gonard rime avec un autre mot qui finit par –ard. ;-)

J'espère que tu trouveras Mme Wharton. J'aime bien ses livres.

cieldequimper said...

@ Halcyon : j'avais prévenu ! Pas de jeux de mots ! ;-)

Unknown said...

Awesome colours! Love the yellow leaves on the graves.

Becky said...

This is beautiful! I'll trade you - I'll visit France and you come to the PNW for a while. Just so long as we connect at some point! :)

Life is good with Little Miss. I'm back at work this week for the first time - part time this week and full time starting next week. So that's hard, but she's home with her daddy, so I'm not too worried.

cieldequimper said...

@ Jacob: no I don't! It was for VDP purposes only. My family's tombs are far away and I don't feel the need to go. I have them all in my heart.

Anonymous said...

This cemetery looks very well kept. I enjoy reading tombstones that reveal a little bit about the persons whose graves they mark.

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

Beautiful old cemetary. Great shots, both.

Gunn said...

Beautiful

VP said...

I probably did something wrong and my comment didn't show up... I was asking if this is a normal cemetery (not a monumental one) and wishing you luck with the Edith Wharton quest!

cieldequimper said...

@ VP: "monumental"?