Time to revisit The Adventures of Asterix, the comic book series written by René Goscinny and illustrated by cartoonist Albert Uderzo, a wonderful way to improve your French if you’re studying it, or a great tool to use in the classroom if you’re teaching it. The year is 50 BC and Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans except for one Gaulish village, holding out against the invaders…. The main character is Asterix, the cunning, pint-sized warrior with superhuman strength which he gets from drinking the magic potion brewed by the old village druid, Getafix. His best friend is the enormous menhir-carrying Obelix whose favorite dish is wild boar and favorite activity, fighting Romans! Dogmatix is Obelix’s tiny dog and his constant companion. The village bard is named Cacofonix (!), and the village chief is Vitalstatistix. The book, Le tour de Gaule d’Astérix(Asterix and the Banquet, in English)can be read to learn about the geography and gastronomic culture of France. In this episode, Asterix and Obelix go on a tour of Gaul (France) and visit its main cities, collecting the culinary specialities from each region: Paris (ham), Reims (Champagne), Lyon (sausages), Nice (salade niçoise), Marseilles (bouillabaisse, or fish stew), Bordeaux (oysters and wine). Not only hilarious, but the puns in French will do wonders for your language skills! French actor Gerard Depardieu plays Obelix in three non-animated action movies : Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar (1999), Asterix and Obelix : Mission Cleopatra (2002), and Asterix at the Olympic Games(2008). Amusez-vous!

Morbidity aside, a trip to Paris wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Père Lachaise cemetery where many world-

famous people are buried. This is especially true if you enjoy French history and culture, since wandering amid the tombstones is a walk down history lane. You’ll even be given a map!

Buried here you’ll find quite an eclectic group of folks.

Actresses Simone Signoret and Sarah Bernhardt are here and actor-singer Yves Montand. So are Oscar Wilde, the British satirist, and Gertrude Stein, the American writer recently depicted in the film Midnight in Paris. You’ll find the graves of Romantic poets Alfred de Musset and Gérard de Nerval and those of Surrealists poets Guillaume Apollinaire and Paul Éluard. Other literary figures you’ll come across are Jean de la Fontaine, the well-known author of Les fables, and also

Molière, Balzac, Proust and Colette. Victor Hugo is buried at the Panthéon but his father is buried here. Frédéric Chopin and Francis Poulenc are among the musicians at Père Lachaise, along with Edith Piaf. Many of the great French painters are buried here too, including Neo-classical painters David and Ingres, Romantic painters Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix, as well as Gustave Caillebotte, who was one of the lesser-known Impressionists. You’ll even find Fulgance Bienvenüe, the father of theParis métro, and Ferdinand de Lesseps, the creator of theSuez canal. Talk about a history lesson!

Last but certainly not least, the Doors’ Jim Morrison, who died in Pari sin 1971, lies buried at the Père Lachaise and is still surrounded by his adoring fans.

Come, pay your respects, and may all these luminaries rest in peace.

If you’d like to know more, visit the Père Lachaise homepage.

« Je tiens à une maison calme, entre cour et jardin, car c’est le nid, la coque, l’enveloppe de ma vie. » (“I need a house to be peaceful, between a courtyard and a garden, for it is the nest, the shell, the sheath of my life.”)

If you are inspired by French literary figures and wish to escape for a moment the bustling activity on your next tour of Paris, don’t miss a visit to La Maison de Balzac, 47 rue Raynouard, Métro Passy.

Located in the 6^tharrondissement near the Eiffel Tower (on the other side of the Seine between the Palais deChaillot and the Maison de Radio France), this was where Balzac hid from his creditors between 1840 and 1847.

This house, now a literary museum and prominent research center, was also where this extremely prolific author worked non-stop: “To work means to wake up each evening at midnight, to write until eight o’clock, take a quarter of an hour for breakfast, work until five o’clock, have dinner, go to sleep and start again the next day.” In the well-preserved study you’ll see the small table on which Balzac wrote much of the Comédie Humaine. You’ll also find various personal objects belonging to the author such as his famous turquoise-encrusted walking cane and the ornamented coffee pot from which he served himself copious amounts of strong black coffee to keep him going through the night. Come and be inspired by one of the greatest literary giants the world has ever known. The tranquil, wooded garden will provide a welcomed rest as well.