After exploring the Palace of Versailles, I walked over to the Père Lachaise Cemetery to pay my respects to Jim Morrison, the co-founder and lead singer of the 60’s rock band The Doors.

Père Lachaise, a sprawling cemetery across 110 acres, is the largest cemetery in Paris. With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. In addition to Morrison, other famous people buried at Père Lachaise include Frédéric Chopin, Édith Piaf, Marcel Marceau, and Oscar Wilde. The cemetery opened in 1804 and takes its name from the confessor to Louis XIV, Père François de la Chaise (1624–1709), who lived in the Jesuit house rebuilt during 1682 on the site of the chapel. I found the historical connection between Louis XIV, whose palace I had just been, and the cemetery I was in, fascinating.

During my teenage years, I became a big fan of The Doors. During this backpacking trip, I brought along my portable CD player and a case that held twenty CD’s. One of those CD’s was the band’s self-titled 1967 debut album.

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida in 1943. A poetry buff, singer, performer, rock star, and all-around charmer, Jim moved to Los Angeles, California when he was 20 years old and began to study cinema at UCLA. While he was in college, he met the other members of The Doors - Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, and Robby Krieger - showed them his poetry, and began putting the words to music.

The following years would prove extremely successful for the band, and they were soon top-tier rock stars in the scene and popular culture. Their songs, including “Light My Fire”, “Riders on the Storm”, and “Break on Through”, provided a soundtrack for both my high school years and this very day as I walked over to the cemetery.

After recording the album “LA Woman” in 1971, Jim Morrison decided to take a break and head to Paris with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson.

Shortly thereafter, on July 3, 1971, at the young age of 27, Jim Morrison passed away from an apparent drug and alcohol-induced heart attack in Paris and was buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery.