A tour of the Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois

There are places where people don't go sightseeing. They go there to stop, to give thanks, to appreciate the magnitude of their destiny. And to be silent for a moment. The Russian Cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is a small piece of Russia in the suburbs of Paris. It's an open-air museum. But a museum of memory, not architecture. A walk through the Russian Cemetery isn't a day of mourning. It's a rare opportunity to feel that Russian culture had and still has a second shore. Today, thousands of people whose lives were spent between two shores – Russia and France – are buried here. Ivan Bunin, Andrei Tarkovsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Alexander Galich, Prince Yusupov, and many other representatives of the Russian émigré community found their final resting place here.

I'll pick you up in Paris in a comfortable, luxury Mercedes Class V minivan. The drive to the Russian Cemetery takes about an hour. We'll stroll leisurely along the necropolis's main paths, stopping at the graves of writers, artists, soldiers, and actors from the first wave of emigration. We'll visit memorials associated with the White Movement and members of the French Resistance. We'll also visit a church, if it's open, and enjoy a few minutes of silence.