london1967 | Paris and vintage Lady Gaga

We got back from Paris yesterday, early afternoon (and then spent the evening at Lynne's - she cooked us a lovely meal).
The train journey Paris (Gare du Nord) - Penge would have just taken 3 hours, if we hadn't missed the train at Victoria by a few seconds.

Paris and the north of France were rainy yesterday and the weather was more or less the same on the other side of the Channel. Although it wasn't raining when we got to London.

On our last full day in Paris we climbed the 400+ step of Notre-Dame de Paris after queueing for almost an hour! But it was well worth the wait. The views are fantastic and it's quite something to face the gargoyles (finally, I felt at home! LOL!)

Most of the afternoon was spent at the Père Lachaise Cemetery; wonderful place, and the tombs and monuments were even more beautiful in the autumn colours.

One of the tombs I wanted to see (but couldn't find even with the map) was the one of the Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni aka the Contessa/Comtesse/Countess di Castiglione.

It's also thanks to her charms in and out of (Napoleon III's) bed that Italy was unified!

And doesn't she remind you of Lady Gaga in this c.1863/66 vintage picture?

I'll post some picture of the cemetery this evening, and perhaps some of the views from Notre-Dame too (although most of these are ruined by spots on the camera's sensor).