Many know Jim Morrison from The Doors, died in 1971 and was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Lesser known the famous Père Lachaise cemetery is reserved for the French: Modigliani, Hahnemann, Haussmann, Chopin, Edith Pilaf, Pissarro, George Seurat, Proust….Notable exceptions: Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein and American, Jim Morrison. Late starting class at COM, I stumbled upon an evening course called The Doors, the last class touching on Jim Morrison’s death and burial in Paris France. After that epic class by music critic and author, Richie Unterberger. The highlight of my day was hanging with other lovers and fans of Jim Morrison vs tourists surrounding Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Strolled through the cemetery, following dusty, worn trails down the hill, listening to Soul Kitchen and The End.

I seamlessly find my way using the timely, punctual French metro, first stop Saint Chapelle, built 1200 is insignificant from outside but the interior is quintessential Gothic architecture. Climbing a narrow, winding, stone facade staircase to enter the upper interior of the St Chapelle- you know you’ve arrived. Gothic and light doesn’t usually go together but here it does. The 15 separate stained glass panels show the history of the world: creation/genesis, coming of Christ, and the end of the world. After arriving, I always take the time to sit and rest.

Notre Dame-was beautiful by night during an Organ recital. The next day, I returned and managed a glimpse of the Crown of thorns and view the Holocaust Remembrance aka Le Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation, focusing on the French Jews that were annhilated. This was a moving, thoughtful reflection of the atrocities from the French perspective. The French remind you that the Notre Dame still function as a church, confession, mass. I was quietly told to stop talking on the phone when I was only listening to the Rick Steve’s podcast.

The French love to tell the story of their saint Jeanne D Arc famous French feminist, who knew how to read, unheard of then and knew how to ride a horse and how to shoot. She volunteered to fight the English but the Army refused. Defiant, she took control of the retreating army, she defeated the English army by tactic and intelligence. Hailed as a hero. However, there were still royalist sympathizers, she is captured and brought back to Paris. She admitted “Angels talked to me” Now she was accused of being a witch, tried and sentenced to death, executed at the age of 19, burned at the stake, in front of Norte Dame, Around the 1500, French historians reviewed and reversed history, first French heroine, first feminist, newly Saint Jeanne d Arc.

Finally took a bus and approached the famous pyramid that houses the entry to the Louvre museum. Even though it’s spring break and Paris isn’t that crowded, don’t be fooled- audio guides sold out at the Louvre and sold out tickets for the Eiffel Tower. It is an international European city! The history of the world is pictured in the Louvre including Michelangelo Mona Lisa. Because Venus del Milo, the Goddess of Love, wears a size 14, I like her for that alone. Still she had a beautiful body known, discovered in Greece in 1930s.