| Montparnasse: Today's Montparnasse is a modern business area dominated by the 209 meters high Montparnasse tower, which is the ideal spot to savour a drink while admiring, from the bar, Hotel Nouvel Orleans or the observation deck, the dream-like Paris landscape. The mostly underground commercial wall of Maine- Montparnasse , which includes an annex of Galeries Lafayette , attracts shoopers, as do rue de Rennes. Built over the rails of busy Montparnasse train station, the Atlantic garden with its theme gardens, bridges, pathways and rolling lawns evoking the ocean, is an oasis of peace. The Cimetiere du Montparnasse , otherwise known as the "south cemetery" is spread out over 1,800 acres and is the third largest cemetery in Paris , after Pere Lachaise and Montmartre . Established in 1824, Montparnasse is one of the more frequented Paris cemeteries, as it is the burial ground for a number of artists, politicians and dignitaries from around the world. Montparnasse is the gravesite for illustrious personalities like Charles Baudelaire , Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean Paul Sartre, and Man Ray. --words and photos by Michael Rando . |
