The Ghosts of Pere la Chaise

Pere Lachaise is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France (44 hectares (110 acres)), though there are larger cemeteries in the city’s suburbs. Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world’s most visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials.


This animation shows some of the graves that are actually in the cemetery. The story is of a little girl exploring the cemetery and meeting up with the ghost of Chopin for piano lessons.


Perhaps the children can research a famous dead person also buried in the cemetery and base their story on meeting them.

There are some beautiful scenes at the beginning of the animation that can be used for rich description.

Build up the tension through narrative of the animation. Running through the cemetery with those small glowing orbs chasing her. She knows that there is something there, but what it is it? (Show, not tell)
Writing Ideas

  • Writing descriptions of the setting or particular graves.
  • Write a narrative including the 1st meeting between the girl and Chopin, perhaps she was lost in the cemetery then heard quiet music and decided to investigate - build up tension.
  • Write dialogue between the girl and Chopin, between you and someone you meet there.
  • Perhaps a child meets someone in the cemetery at night but does not realise it is a ghost until the end of the story.
  • Write from the point of view of the ghost, meeting a live human for the first time.