Twain visits two "burying-grounds" in Paris, Pere la Chaise and St. Denis. He remarks on the ancient rulers of France, Dagobert, Clovis and Charlemagne, in St. Denis, and "the last home of scores of illustrious mean and women who were born to no titles, but achieved fame by their own energy and their own genius" in Pere la Chaise. Charlemagne was not interred at St. Denis but at Aachen Cathedral in modern day Germany. The tomb of Abelard and Heloise is found in Pere la Chaise and is a place of pilgrimage for the broken hearted. Twain attempts to set the record straight in regards to Abelard and praises the "ruffians" that "inflicted upon him a terrible and nameless mutilation". The chapter goes on to complain about those business establishments with "English Spoken Here" signs where in fact English is not spoken and various drinking establishments advertising "ALL MANNER OF AMERICAN DRINKS ARTISTICALLY PREPARED HERE" where such drinks can not be found. Twain also suffers the loss of another "idol of my infancy". Grisettes are not as he imagined. The slideshow for this chapter was produced using PhotoFilmStrip with images from the Gutenberg Project edition of The Innocents Abroad as well as various images found in the Wikipedia Commons.
Reading Date
September 6, 2011
SL Venue
Fate Gardens
Twain Chapter Comments
So where is Charlemagne?
He did want to be buried in or near Paris but didn't make it there. Reports are that he was buried in the cathedral of Aachen, in Germany. I've just been advised that there may be some problems with this as well. See http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2010/05/grave-of-charlemagne-remains-mystery.html