Des feuilles rouges et orangées

Cimetière Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

An explosion of red and orange covers the

ground beneath the empty branches 

of maple trees.

Cimetière Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

91700, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

Cimetière Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

Cimetière Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

I was determined to visit the grave site of the reknown

dancer, Rudolph Nureyev, at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

How lucky we were to arrive just as all the Ginko leaves

were making a carpet of gold to welcome us.

Cimetière Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

91700, France (only 14.8 miles from the center of Paris)

Sainte Geneviève des Bois - le cimetière russe

Sainte Geneviève des Bois

a Russian Cemetery

The Russian Orthodox Cemetery is not highly regarded 

by the locals of this small town 

and many do not even know of its existence.  

I made the trip to see the tombstone of Rudolph Nureuev 

and found the carpet of fallen ginko leaves as a bonus.  

Wherever I have traveled in the world, I visit and photograph the cemeteries.  

Although this cemetery is not well-maintained, 

there was a quiet beauty of the season, 

silent and colorful with autumn leaves.

 

 

 

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte Geneviève des Bois

Sainte Geneviève des Bois - le cimetière russe

Sainte Geneviève des Bois

The Russian Orthodox Cemetery is not highly regarded by the locals of this small town and many do not even know of its existence.  I made the trip to see the tombstone of Rudolph Nureuev and found the carpet of fallen ginko leaves as a bonus.  

Wherever I have traveled in the world, I visit and photograph the cemeteries.  Although this cemetery is not well-maintained, there was a quiet beauty of the season, silent and colorful with autumn leaves.

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

Sainte-Geneviève des Bois - le cimetière

The Russian Orthodox Cemetery

at Sainte-Geneviève des Bois

Although I have only seen this cemetery in the fall, 

in any month one imagines that the setting would still appear as an artist's palette 

but in the shades of the proper season.

Whether carpeted with Ginko leaves, 

a rare blanket of snow, 

or the petals of the spring blooms,

 it would surely be an artist's canvas.

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève des Bois

(Joyeux anniversaire, Renée)

Rudolph Nureyev

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

The final resting place of the famed dancer and choreographer resembles a "traveling trunk" draped with a fringed kilim rug.  The rug is actually crafted with bronze fringe and small glass mosaics, an homage to Nureyev's Bashkir heritage.  Click here to see the close-up details of the rug's artistry in my previous post.

It is worth the short train ride to the southern suburbs (only 14.6 miles from the center of Paris) to see this lovely and unusual cemetery.

Rudolph Nureyev (1938-1993)

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

I am joining Julie's Taphophile Tragics.
Click here to see the other cemetery posts

Sainte Geneviève des Bois - le cimetière russe

Sainte Genevieve des Bois

The Russian Orthodox Cemetery, 

final resting place of dancer Rudolph Nureyev

seen here with a carpet of gold Ginko leaves

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois - Ginko leaves

A carpeted path of gold...

Russian Orthodox Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

A Pilgrimage to Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

For years I have wanted to see this amazing tribute to Rudolph Nureyev, a fringed kilim rug meticulously crafted in bronze and glass mosaics by Ezio Frigerio.  The loose drapes of rug over the "traveling trunk" is a bright gem in the Russian Orthodox Cemetery, an homage to Nureyev's Bashkir heritage.

His funeral, the civil ceremony, was at Opéra Garnier in the rococo foyer after an elegant procession up the grand staircase.  The devotees of Nureyev payed their respects as an orchestra played Tchaikovsky and Bach.  The splendor of Garnier was left behind and he was buried in the Russian cemetery at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

One week ago, Peter (Peter's Paris) and I made the journey by train, by bus, and on foot to the remote town.  As a town it is oblivious to the cemetery and does not encourage the tourists with signs of direction.  For two hours we saw only the custodians of the cemetery as we walked among the graves, a quiet time in this spectacular resting place of the great dancer and choreographer.

To read more about Rudolph Nureyev, the biography Nureyev, the Life (2007) by Julie Kavanagh is spellbinding.

Rudolph Nureyev (1938-1993)
Russian Orthodox Cemetery
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois