A stroll through the Batignolles Cemetery

Starting point and access: Porte de Clichy.
- Metro – Lines 13 or 14. Take Exit 4 onto Avenue du Cimetière des Batignolles.
- Tram – Line T3b.
- RER – Line C, on the section between Paris and Pontoise.

(S/E) Upon exiting the metro station, turn right twice to join Avenue de Clichy (note the tall silhouette of the Paris Court of Justice on the left). Take the first right onto Avenue du Cimetière des Batignolles and follow it to the entrance of the cemetery.

The route within the cemetery is a guide only and there are various alternative routes. In the description that follows, the names appearing on the graves may be highlighted for three different reasons:
1) Graves of notable figures; a lower-case letter in brackets refers to a short entry in the ‘Places to see’ section, where the names are listed in the order in which they appear on the route.
2) Particularly original monuments.
3) Useful landmarks on the ground.

(1) Enter the cemetery, pass a sign with the cemetery map on your right and walk on for a few dozen metres. Take the first right, Avenue Circulaire, and follow it to the end. You will then see, on the left, the grave adorned with a bust of Victor Rose (a).

Retrace your steps and turn immediately right, leaving the Hamon Chapel on your left. Note, on the left, a grave adorned with two black globes and, on the right, the colourful gravestone of Joséphin Peladan (b). Immediately afterwards, turn left, leaving the Rosé Chapel on your right, and follow a grassy path interspersed with flagstones.

At a junction, go straight on and note, on the right-hand side, the bust of Lorenzo Pagans (c). Then turn right. You will come out onto a tarmac path (Avenue de l’Est) and follow it to the left. At the junction shortly afterwards, turn right and you’ll come to a roundabout. Go round it on the left, ignore the first exit and, at the edge of the roundabout, near a bench, you’ll find Paul Verlaine’s grave (d).

Then take the next exit, Avenue Principale, then the first right, Avenue du Nord. Note, on the right, the Ganola family’s tomb with its small columns.

Walk back very slightly and turn right, leaving the Bodier grave on your left. In front of the Streiff grave, turn right. Note, on the right, the bas-relief depicting an angel on the grave of a teenager. At the corner by the Marvillet grave, take a path on the left. Note, on the right-hand side, a grave adorned with a sculpture depicting two birds in flight (perhaps seagulls).

(2) You will come out onto a tarmac path; follow it to the right (Avenue Lacombe). At the junction shortly afterwards, continue straight ahead. Note the statue of a mourner on the left. At the end, turn left onto a wide grassy path.

At the corner by the Krug-Basse grave, turn left onto a grassy path, leaving the Dieulefils-Dagron grave on your right. In the third row on the left, note a colourful headstone depicting ears of wheat and butterflies.Still on the left is the grave of Jean-François Roux (e).

One row before you reach a tarmac path again, turn right onto a path at the corner of the Gauthier-Ninet grave. On the right-hand side, opposite the Texier grave, you will find the grave of Patrice Neumont (f), whose name is written in his signature style. Next, in the third row on the right, note the grave of Raymond Villechanoux (g), adorned with a biplane. Then turn left, join a tarmac path (Avenue Centrale), follow it to the right and you will immediately come to a junction.

(3) Then turn right onto Avenue des Plantations and walk past, on your left, an area dedicated to the storage of the ashes of those who have chosen to be cremated. Note on the right the grave of Paul Vidal (h), marked with his medallion. Then turn left onto a path that starts between the Charpentier grave, on the left, and the Scala grave, on the right. This leads onto a tarmac path (Avenue du Sud); follow it to the right. At the junction, continue straight ahead.

At the end, turn left onto a grassy path, then pass between the Thomas graves on the left and the Durand-Rancher grave on the right. Note on the left the grave of Pierre Salama (i). Cross a tarmac path and continue along the path opposite, leaving the Cartier-Varkan grave on your right. At the next junction, go straight on.

Two rows further on, turn left at the corner of the Lopez grave. Note a grave on the right adorned with a horse’s head. Just before a tarmac path, turn right onto a footpath at the corner of the Betlem grave. At the end, on the left-hand side, is the very simple grave of Ray Ventura (j).

(4) Facing the fountain, first turn left then right onto a paved path between the second and third rows, leaving the Solomon grave on your left. Note the grave of Benjamin Péret (k) on your right (spelled ‘Perret’ on the site). Continue straight on and, before the Boulevard Périphérique viaduct, turn left onto a gravel track, leaving the Legrand grave on your left.

At the junction, look for André Breton’s grave (l) on the left-hand corner ( incorrectly marked on the map provided by Paris City Hall) and continue straight ahead along the hard-packed track. Further on, cross a tarmac path and continue along the path opposite. Shortly afterwards, turn right at the corner by the Favier grave. The third grave on the left is that of Gilbert-Médéric Védy (m).

At the end of the path, turn left and walk alongside a hedge on your right. At the end, first turn right then left to return to a junction you passed earlier.

(3) Then turn right onto Avenue des Plantations and walk alongside the Jardin du Souvenir on your left. At the next junction (war memorial on the right), carry straight on and pass under the Boulevard Périphérique. Soon after, turn left onto the lane and pass under the Périphérique again.

Immediately afterwards, turn right into a grassy path, leaving the Pilot-Debienne grave on your left. Then turn right at the corner by the Lambert grave. Note on your left the Delatour-Mumeret grave, whose three sons died during or as a result of the First World War. Then first turn left then right onto Avenue du Nord and pass under the Boulevard Périphérique once more.

Note a heart-shaped memorial on the left. Take the second left, the Chemin du Nord. Opposite the Gholam grave, follow a grassy path to the right. At the T-junction, turn left.

(5) Cross Avenue Transversale and continue straight ahead along Chemin du Sud. Between the third and fourth rows, turn left onto a path. Note, on the left-hand side, the grave of a child decorated with toys. At the corner of a chapel (with a statue of a weeping woman opposite), turn left. You will soon rejoin Avenue Transversale; follow it to the right and pass under the Boulevard Périphérique one last time.

At the junction on the other side, turn right onto Avenue Circulaire. Take the first left onto Chemin de l’Est. On the left-hand side are René Sergent’s tomb with its two small columns, followed by Charles Valois’s tomb with its medallion (o). Take the first grassy path on the right. At the corner by the Thomas tomb, turn left onto a footpath. Further on, note the bust of Madame Maillet on the left.

Just before a tarmac path, turn right at the corner by the Chavance grave. First turn left then right and follow Avenue Principale to leave the cemetery.

(1) Follow Avenue du Cimetière des Batignolles straight on. At the end, turn left. At the traffic lights, turn left and you will immediately find the Porte de Clichy metro station on your left (S/E).

A simple pair of trainers is sufficient for this short urban walk.

Inside the cemetery, there are drinking fountains marked on the map and toilets on the right just past the entrance. There are bars and restaurants in the surrounding neighbourhood.

It is recommended that you obtain the map provided by Paris City Hall, which indicates the locations of the graves of several notable figures. Allow around two hours for a visit to the cemetery.

Passy Cemetery opening hours:
- Opening times: weekdays, 8.00 am; Saturdays, 8.30 am; Sundays and public holidays, 9.00 am.
- Closing: from 6 November to 15 March, 5.30 pm; from 16 March to 5 November, 6.00 pm.

Please note that a cemetery is a place of contemplation and that visitors are expected to behave in a discreet and respectful manner.

Walk undertaken by the author on 16 September 2026.

Some facts about the history of Batignolles Cemetery:
The cemetery was established in 1833, at a time when the commune of Batignolles-Monceau was independent of Paris (it was annexed in 1860). Since 1969, the cemetery has been overlooked by a viaduct carrying the Boulevard Périphérique.

Graves of notable figures (non-exhaustive list):
a – Victor Rose (1844–1892) Wood engraver, lithographer and illustrator. The monument and the bust adorning it are the work of the architect and sculptor Hector Guimard (1867–1942).
b – Joséphin Peladan (1858–1918) Writer and art critic.
c – Lorenzo Pagans (1838–1883) Composer and tenor of Spanish origin.
d – Paul Verlaine (1844–1896) Writer and poet. He took part in the Paris Commune in 1871, which led to his conviction in absentia and his dismissal from the civil service. He had a romantic but tumultuous relationship with Arthur Rimbaud, which ended in a violent row in London, during which Rimbaud was superficially wounded by a revolver bullet. This resulted in Paul Verlaine serving two years in prison. The final years of his life were marked by alcoholism and further run-ins with the law. Nevertheless, Verlaine’s body of work remains one of the richest and most original in French poetry. He published around twenty collections of poetry.
e – Jean-François Roux (1920–2008) Diplomat.
f – Maurice Neumont (1868–1930) Painter, lithographer, illustrator and poster artist. During the First World War, he produced propaganda posters and press cartoons glorifying French soldiers and caricaturing German soldiers and leaders.
g - Raymond Villechanoux (1899–1931) Aviator and chief pilot at Louis Blériot’s company; he was killed during an aerobatic display.
h - Paul Vidal (1863–1931) Composer and teacher at the Paris Conservatoire.
i - Pierre Salama (1917–2009) Archaeologist and historian. Born in Algeria, which was then part of France, he spent most of his career there, including from 1962 to 1989, after the country had gained independence.
j - Ray Ventura (1908–1979) Born Raymond, composer, arranger, conductor and music producer. In the 1930s, he played an important role in popularising jazz in France.
k - Benjamin Péret (1899–1959) A surrealist poet and Trotskyist activist, who spent a significant part of his life in Brazil, Spain and Mexico.
l – André Breton (1896–1966) Poet and writer, founder and leading figure of the Surrealist movement.
m - Gilbert-Médéric Védy (1902–1944) Organiser of a resistance network in the Cherbourg area during the Second World War. After being captured, he managed to take his own life to avoid being forced to talk under torture.
n – René Sergent (1865–1927) Architect.
o - Charles Valois (1820–1899) Writer and poet; he served as President of the Société des Gens de Lettres.

Sources: Paris City Hall and Wikipedia.