When in Paris: this spot in the City of Lights will give you goosebumps

This spot in Paris will give you goosebumps, and I’m not referring to the latest collection of the haute couture houses you adore along the Champs-Elysees, Avenue Montaigne and Rue Saint-Honore. Not even the hotspots you are obliged to have a photo of on every visit — the Eiffel Tower, Arc d’ Triomphe and River Seine, Sacre Coeur and Sainte-Chapelle cathedrals: Louvre, Centre Pompidou and d’Orsay museums. Not even the first bite of the mouth-watering bonbons, buttery croissant and crispy-chewy macaron in the popular boulangeries or quaint streetside cafés.

Truly, Paris will always be breathtaking, magical. Seeing it for the first time will give you goosebumps—and again on the next visit. Not until the constant trips cause the been-there-done-that phenomenon (except when shopping, of course).

Maybe you’ve seen it all? Maybe not. Perhaps on the next holiday to the City of Lights, stray far from the usual must-visit places and sprinkle a bit of excitement on your itinerary. Go visit unusual attractions to get back the goosebumps episodes— like haunted spots. There is no shortage of these in an ancient city like Paris (believe it or not, it lists the Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower). But farther from the city is a place where fancy buildings line boulevards and avenues, and cash and credit cards are not accepted. In fact, it’s not needed. The currency in this place is one’s soul.

Pere-Lachaise is a cemetery, the most prestigious in the French capital and the largest of its kind at more than 100 acres with 70,000 plots. Fusing the designs of an English-style park and a place of meditation, the cemetery was opened in 1804, during the reign of King Louis XIV, and named after Fr. François d'Aix de La Chaise, the king’s confessor. The legendary final resting place is more than a graveyard, it’s a necropolis. If eerie is your thing, this “soul-full city” is for you.

Sorry-I’m-not-a-fan may frown on it and ask why visit a burial ground in the fashion capital where Thiery, Coco, Louis, Francois, Yves and Christian are always up for a voguish conversation. Well, in Pere Lachaise, you might get a chance to walk along with legendary personalities like musicians Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison and Chopin, or writers Oscar Wilde and Colette, to name a few.

Set the ideal Bram Stoker-like scene: Autumn will be a good time to visit, when the season’s foliage turns to yellow, red and gold and carpets the cobblestone pavement. Pick a perfect day— sunless, overcast sky, gloomy, breezy, chilly, drizzling. Take the metro to the 20th arrondissement and get off at Pere-Lachaise station. The stop is the namesake of your goosebumps destination.

Find the gate in the high-walled city. Chances are other tourists will converge on this area, making it easier to locate any of the three entrances. But before stepping on the hallowed ground, it’s wise to have a map on hand. Purchase one, take a photo or download one, or risk losing your way in the maze of tombs. You don't want to get stuck inside this Labyrinthine cemetery when darkness falls and the gates are shut and locked. It's eerie enough during the daytime, much more when the light fades.

Welcome to the Parisian city of the dead. In this necropolis, pathways are referred to as avenues and the blocks are numbered just like your favorite uptown haunts.

What to expect? Ghostly encounters, like apparitions of renowned and unknown figures, like the person walking alongside you who may not be on this plane. Perhaps you’ll hear whispers from the graves, faint melodies or other unearthly sounds. Adding to the unsettling atmosphere is the cemetery’s tragic history as an execution ground. Rumor has it that the place is a site for occult ceremonies and black masses.

However, on the not-so-scary side of Pere Lachaise, it’s like walking in an open-air museum or in the pages of an architectural magazine. The cemetery displays funerary art in all its styles—from the so-French Haussmannian vaults to Gothic, Egyptian revival to Neo-classical, and adornments are styled in symbolic sculptures from the Romantic to Art Nouveau periods. Depending on which century one is interred, the prevailing style of the time is adapted. Of course, just like in any prestigious “village,” the elaborately decorated gravesites turn heads.

What makes Pere Lachaise popular among tourists are its “occupants,” the influential personalities in music—Frederic Chopin, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison; fine arts— Eugène Delacroix and Georges Seurat; literature— Marcel Proust, Honoré de Balzac and Oscar Wilde; and famous people in science, government, performance arts and cinema.

If you feel a cold touch, that’s one or more of them welcoming you to the city. What do you expect? You’re in one of the most haunted places in Paris. Then, the goosebumps come. Isn't that what you came here for?

On your next trip to Paris, drop by Pere Lachaise, make the cobblestone path your runway— and strike a pose and snap away. Who knows, Chopin, Jim or Oscar (or all three plus more) may appear in the shot. If that happens, consider yourself a fortunate soul.