A visit to this rambling necropolis is an outing in itself, and you should set aside a half day to explore its shady lanes and mossy mausolea. North east of Bastille, it stands slightly aloof on its hill, and affords some great views of the living city as well as the dead. The notables are too numerous to list, but they include Chopin and Piaf, Ernst and Balzac, while the tombs of Jim Morrison, Chopin and Victor Noir have become places of pilgrimage in their own right.

At the south-east corner of Père Lachaise is the picturesque village of Charonne, which centres on the 13th century Romanesque church and the cobbled rue St-Blaise. It’s as practical to reach by trekking along rue de Bagnolet as it is from metro Gambetta.