12/05/2005
Rubbing One Out in Paris
A fence has been erected around the effigy of 19th century journalist Victor Noir in Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris because of the vigorous rubbing by visitors that threatens to damage the notably bulging groin area of the bronze likeness.
According to the BBC, "It is said that a woman who kisses the lips of the prostrate statue and slips a flower into the upturned top hat will find a husband by the end of the year." No word on what pleasuring the effigy might do for men.
Noir died after losing a duel to a great-nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Posted 9:49 AM EST by Andy Towle in Art & Design | Permalink
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Lachaise is an unmissable stop for anyone with an appreciation of cultural history. Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas are also buried there beneath a shared headstone. Their graves and Wilde's inspired my friend Leonard Matlovich to design his beautiful "Gay Vietnam Veteran" tombstone in Congressional Cemetery in Washington ["When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."], which has led to other, less well-known gay vets to be buried there. When we visited Lachaise together it was like Gay Days at Disneyland, with queens from all over the world asking each other directions to Piaf's, Wilde's, and other iconic graves. While the most heavily populated with notables, it is not the only lovely cemetery in Paris. In fact, I have a book devoted to the City of Light's final resting places.
Posted by: Michael | Dec 5, 2005 3:42:50 PM
"embrasser la statue ?" C'est une explication censurée, désolé, mais d'autres jeux érotiques avaient lieu le soir, beaucoup plus...explicites...
Tss, ces englishes, trop prudes.
Posted by: ron | Dec 6, 2005 6:02:18 AM
Looks like Victor has a stiff one... just wonder if it was natural or the result of rigor mortis?
Posted by: HisHolynessDPope | Dec 7, 2005 4:04:30 AM
Please pardon a repetition of the above - but there's never been a question of kissing the bronze or, in the event, not on the lips.
The BBC should stammer out the facts, blushing, rather than serve up such dull distortions.
Posted by: baz | Dec 8, 2005 1:57:54 AM
Oh well damn, it gets worse.
Pierre Bonaparte shot Noir at close range, and not in a duel, but at Bonaparte's apartment in the course of an argument.
Good example of history simplfied or sanitized into falsehood.
Who do you trust? Are you sure?
Posted by: baz | Dec 8, 2005 2:23:59 AM