London, Edinburgh, Paris - Recommendations Please

[Chas]

I was in Paris an absolutely loved it. Musee d'Orsay already mentioned- I would add Pere LeChaise cemetery, Les Invalides and the tomb of Napoleon; great military museum. Musee de la Orangerie and it's collection of impressionist art works. Montmarte, Ile de St. Louis, The Catacombs. For my money the best view of Paris by night is the Tour de Montparnasse which is right across the street from the Gare de Montparnasse. The cemetery of Montparnasse is pretty good, too- I went to pay my respects at the grave of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. There is a fellow who does night walking tours of Pere LeChaise and he personally also owns a large collection of vampire memorabilia. Not sure if he does it in English, yet.

Check out http://www.messynessychic.com/category/dont-be-a-tourist/my-secret-paris/ website for interesting stuff on Paris, and try to find the university that has a collection of medical oddities.

If you have time hire a car and drive up to Giverny and the garden of Claude Monet. The gardens will be past their prime as I write this but it's really quite wonderful. Then hit Rouen and Normandie; battlefields, museums, military cemeteries and picturesque Norman villages. And stock up on Calvados.

 

[Harp]

The cemetery of Montparnasse is pretty good, too- I went to pay my respects at the grave of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

Simone de Beauvoir was buried wearing the ring Nelson Algren gave her. A tragic star-crossed couple indeed.