Hang In There Tiger
A myriad stone telephone boxes calling heaven from under a steel flyover is the unique first impression. Montmartre Cemetery, or Cimetière du Nord, opened in 1825 on the site of limestone quarries at the bottom of the famous hill. It is one of the four cemeteries created at the cardinal points of Paris during the early 19th century. These new burial grounds – Père Lachaise in the east, Montparnasse in the south, Passy in the west and Montmartre in the north – replaced the parish graveyards closed on public health grounds. The bones were reinterred in the Catacombs beneath Place Denfert-Rochereau.
Cobbled lanes and grass paths link 11 hectares of monuments to the dead between cedar, chestnut, lime and maple trees. The Pont de Caulaincourt was built over the lower part of the site in 1888. It supports the overhead Rue de Caulaincourt and was the brainchild of that most determined of town planners, Georges Eugène Haussmann. Six cast iron Doric columns rising between graves support the 160 metre long road and pedestrian bridge connecting the western slope of Montmartre to the rest of the city.
A copper statue of the fallen Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Baudin lies on top of a stone plinth inscribed “La Loi”. This doctor, politician and member of the National Assembly was shot and killed in 1851 when climbing on top of a barricade to oppose the coup of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. He was hailed as a martyr to the Republican cause. Nearby, a CD cover has been placed on the gravestone of Daniel Rozoum. Known as Daniel Darc, the singer achieved success with his band Taxi Girl between 1978 and 1986, and later as a solo artist. He died in 2013 aged 53. One of his solo album hits was Sous Influence Divine. Resting well. Memory amidst forgottenness. Au Cimetière du Nord, Il y a le chat noir et blanc, le chat brun et blanc and le chat gris. Afterlife is a cabaret.
