Open Door to the Past...

As I was walking along my street, I peered into the doorway of one of the impressive late 19th century buildings that has long been carved up into student lets. Just by chance, the door had been left open, offering a glimpse of an unexpected fragment of the past. Given the style of architecture, this must be one of the very few edifices to have survived the assault on the city in the Great War of 1914-1918.

Although still beautiful, albeit with facade tarnished with urban grime and graffiti, the whole has naturally lost some of its former grandeur over the decades. I was taken aback to see just how elegant the hallway was, with the figure newel post at the end of the staircase, the decorative wood panelling and the tiled floor.

I wonder who lived here when the property was its prime. In what manner was it divided up when first built? Were there separate appartments on each floor or was this a vast family town house? Not sure how to arrive at any answers, but I do wish that I had the ability to write a book about the (imagined) past lives of this building and those who inhabited it before it was all given over to today's transcient tenancy which cloaks everything with anonymity and a certain indifference.

Cemetery in Heavenly Sun...

Climbing up a series of steep steps from the centre of St Etienne towards the perpendicular, aptly named Rue de L'Eternité, I finally arrived at Cimetière du Crêt-de-Roc. Whilst in my mind cemeteries are usually synonymous with rather shrouded, secluded areas of town, surrounded by trees and generally secured by imposing walls, this site was somewhat different.

Firstly, the sunlight was radiant, throwing bright beams across the greenery and in between the monuments and headstones in a magical way, blazing on the stonework. Meanwhile, the searing midday heat grew in intensity as I meandered along the pathways without any particular direction, just intent on discovering the beauty of what is known locally as Le Père-Lachaise stéphanois.

What is immediately striking here is this dramatic geographical position; high above the hustle and bustle of the city below, yet surrounded too by mountains in the distance, creating an impression of exposure yet protection.

Row upon row of tombstones of varied size and stature crisscross the flanks of the hill side, and I loved wandering around the oldest of these...

The grounds were enlarged several times following the consecration and inauguration of the site in 1819 and indeed some of the older plots are squeezed together...

Looking at the detailed sculpture and inscribed names led me, as always, to wonder who these individuals were, what kind of life they lived. Many of the traditional symbolic features were included; shrouded urns...

Winged hourglasses, representing passing time and hence our mortality, clasped hands for reunion in eternity, upturned torches for life extinguished...

Naturally, angels towered over their charges...

Whilst mourning figures in their austere, draped clothing covered their grief-stricken faces...

Ivy cloaked itself across the monumental stonework, its bright green setting off the blazing blue skies above...

Even the deteriorated monuments seemed all the more mysterious...

And with their own grandeur and grace...

And even a certain elegance...

Some a little sad in their decline...

Others majestic...

And finally, a tantalizing glipse of the deceased in photographic image, their likenesses caught forever on stone, a 'modern' addition that reflects how this was indeed a mid-19th century cemetery.

Throughout a large part of my visit, I was honoured by the presence of a private guide who weaved himself between the graves, guardian of the peace and tranquility of the cemetery in heavenly sunlight!

Blazing Blue and Purple.... Larkspur.

The labels Larkspur and Delphinium are used interchangeably to describe the beautiful tall flowers that belong to the butterfly (Ranunculaceae) family.

The resemblance of the flower buds to a lark's claw or spur obviously gave rise to the former name back in Tudor times - and it is the same in French 'Pied d'alouette'.

Meanwhile for others, the flower buds brought to mind the shape of a dolphin - hence the Greek delphínion - Delphinium - and again the French equivalent; Dauphinelle. Whichever association made, and whatever name is used, the colours of the flowers are just magical whether they are soft pink, mauve or blue. No wonder this flower is a symbol of positivity and was used to ward off evil !