Lonely Planet - Paris

9. Pay homage to the departed at Cimetiere Du Pere Lachaise

Paris is a collection of villages, and this 48-hectare cemetery of cobbled lanes and elaborate tombs the size of small houses qualifies as one in its own right.

The cemetery was founded in 1804, and initially attracted few funerals because of its distance from the city centre. The authorities' response was to exhume famous remains and resettle them here.

The marketing ploy worked and Pere Lachaise has been the city's most fashionable final address ever since.

With a population (as it were) of one million, among the cemetery's celebrity residents are the composer Chopin; writers Moliere, Apollinaire, Balzac, Proust, Wilde, Gertrude Stein (and Alice B Toklas) and Colette; artists Delacroix, Pissarro, Seurat and Modigliani; singers Edith Piaf and rock god Jim Morrison; and 12th-century lovers Abelard and Heloise, who in 1817 were disinterred and reburied here together beneath a neogothic tombstone.

Long-standing traditions at Pere Lachaise include leaving love letters on Abelard and Heloise's crypt, red roses on Edith Piaf's grave, and lipstick kisses on Oscar Wilde's tomb, which is topped with a naked winged angel. The angel was formerly well-endowed, which was apparently deemed so obscene that the offending section was lopped off and used by the cemetery director as a paperweight.

Another raunchy resting place is that of Victor Noir, pseudonym of the journalist Yvan Salman, who was shot and killed in 1870 by Pierre Bonaparte, great-nephew of Napoleon, at the age of just 22. According to legend, a woman who strokes Noir's amply proportioned bronze effigy will quickly fall pregnant. The enthusiastic response by would-be mothers led to the statue being literally worn down, and a fence was constructed around his grave, though subsequent protests by Parisian women have since seen it removed.

But the most venerated tomb belongs to the Doors' Jim Morrison, who died in Paris in 1971 (although conspiracy theorists believe he's alive and well and living it up away from the spotlight). Prior to complaints from Morrison's family, fans regularly took drugs, drank beer and had sex atop his grave. The family's protests resulted in a crackdown which has seen the beer bottles, graffiti and discarded evidence of intimacy cleaned up, a security guard permanently posted to watch out for misbehaving fans and even a special leaflet outlining a code of conduct for homages to the poet/singer. Given his wild lifestyle, you can't help but wonder if Morrison isn't finding the new arrangements rather boring.

Maps indicating the location of noteworthy graves are posted around the cemetery, but it's worth purchasing a detailed map from one of the nearby newsstands.

10. Contemplate modern art and architecture at the Centre Pompidou

Fresh from a facelift, the building housing Paris' premier cultural centre is so iconic that you could spend hours looking at it without ever going inside.

Architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers' bold design - with plumbing, pipes and air vents forming part of the external facade - caused a scandale when the centre opened in 1977. Especially when viewed from a distance, such as from the Sacre-Coeur or Parc de Belleville, the centre's primary-coloured, boxlike form amid a sea of muted-grey Parisian rooftops makes it look like a child's Meccano set abandoned on someone's very elegant living room rug.

Cultural offerings include a ground-level open space, hosting temporary exhibitions; the Bibliotheque Publique d'Information (BPI; public library); and cinemas and entertainment venues. But the most compelling reason to enter is the Musee National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), which includes works by the Surrealists and Cubists, a fabulous Matisse collection, pop art and contemporary creations.

The Centre Pompidou is just six storeys high, but because of Paris' low-rise cityscape, the views from the roof (reached by external escalators enclosed in tubes) are superb. Views also unfold from the 6th-floor temporary exhibition space and from the restaurant, Georges.

Reproduced with permission from Paris Encounter ©2007 Lonely Planet Publications