A PARIS MOMENT – THE GRAVE OF VICTOR NOIR

PENIS RUBBING IN PARIS, IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN HERE

 

This is the tombstone of the journalist Victor Noir in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Victor Noir was his pen-name, his real name was Yvan Salmon (1848-1870). On the 10th of January 1870, he went to see Pierre Bonarparte, a hot-headed cousin of then Emperor Napoleon III. The purpose of his visit was to organize a duel between Bonaparte and Pascal Gousset. Gousset was a fellow journalist who worked with Noir at “La Marseillaise,” a daily paper. The meeting went bad, words and slaps on the cheek were exchanged and a shot was fired. Shot by Bonaparte, Victor Noir collapsed and died shortly after. The newspaper La Marseillaise, wanting to stir up trouble, used his death as the last in a long list of offenses by the Emperor, his family and his government.

Around 100,000 people attended Victor Noir’s funeral. When in 1891, his remains were transfered to the Père Lachaise cemetery, the sculptor Aimé-Jules Dalou created a “gisant.” If you will look closely at the photo you will notice that this sculpture has a few rather unusual and striking features. The sculpture has a very noticeable protuberance in Noir’s trousers, the collar is open, his hat lies as if it just fell by his side, in fact he lies prone as if just struck down by Bonaparte’s shot. It didn’t take long before a rumor spread that after placing a flower in the top hat and kissing the statue on the lips, should a woman then rub its genital area, the nose or the tip of the boots, it would enhance fertility, bring a blissful sex life, or, in some versions, secure the lady a husband within the year. This has made it one of the most popular memorials for women to visit in the famous cemetery. And it is still is believed to this day as the shiny parts of the statue will attest. In 2004, the administration of Père Lachaise tried erecting a fence around the tomb because they thought the rubbing had gotten out of hand but it was continuously breached and the administration finally gave up its struggle and removed the barrier after a campaign by French TV anchor Péri Cochin. So ladies, today you have full access to the most rubbed and famous penis in Paris.

This photo of Victor Noir’s grave was taken in Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris in July 2013.

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