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Switzerland Not Neutral On The Issue Of 'Suicide Tourism'
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Swiss hot chocolate and powdery ski slopes...these are a few of our favorite things. These are also a selection of heart-warming images that usually call to mind thoughts of traveling to Switzerland, and we'd never imagine having to add "assisted suicide" to the list. But alack and alas, it's true that Switzerland allows people to end their lives legally, so long as the decision is "not motivated by their own interests."
As a result of these liberal laws, Swiss towns that usually welcome tourists for things like good chocolate and yodeling have also become destinations for those who check in only to check out permanently. It's a depressing story—excuse us for dampening your Friday morning—but it's a large issue now in Switzerland and Britain as the Swiss seek to put further rules on who can get assisted suicide and CNN points out that many of suicide tourists are British, averaging two per month since 2002.
Tags: Travel News / Paris Travel / Death / Thanatourism / → All Tags
Vandals Dare To Disturb Paris Catacombs, Awaken Curse?
Just ahead of Halloween, a creepy disturbance shutters one of Paris' most morbid destinations. Now tourists won't have the treat of walking among the 14th-century dead while city officials find the grave-raiser.
A tourist destination dating back to the 19th century, the Paris Catacombs, resting place of French Revolution figures like Georges Danton, contains bones dating back to the 14th century. Some 300,000 visitors a year trek out to the 14th arrondissement to check out the remains of more than 6 million Parisians, until earlier this month when an unknown number of vandals tipped over several stacks of those remains, making the path through the tunnels impassible.
Tags: Fall-Foliage-Map / Fall Foliage Travel / Fall Travel / Outdoor Travel / Paris Travel / Thanatourism / → All Tags
Sweep The Autumn Leaves From The Graves Of Proust And Wilde In Paris
Alright, alright—Paris is merveilleuse at all times of the year, but during the autumn, certain sections of the city veritably come alive with the death of the leaves. Heck, the season even inspired a Barbie doll to use a walking stick.
There are the Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin du Luxembourg, Bois de Boulogne, and of course the pathways along the Seine River for premium fall foliage peeping. But for the most unique experience, we're turning a little morbid by recommending a stroll around Père Lachaise cemetery, where the autumnal colors stand stark against the gray and black tombs of figures like Jim Morrison, Marcel Proust, and Edith Piaf.
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Three Cemeteries To Visit Now That Michael Jackson Will Rest In (Private) Peace
At least one aspect of Michael Jackson's life will be kept private: The King of Pop will be buried on his birthday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles—away from the prying eyes of the souvenir-takers.
Although Forest Lawn's Great Mausoleum has been closed for decades, we've rooted out a few places where you can get personal with the famous corpses of your choice. Below, Three Cemeteries Full Of The Famous:
Tags: True-Blood-Map / True Blood / Louisiana Travel / Death / Thanatourism / Vampire Travel / → All Tags
True Blood Travel Guide: Digging Deep For Voodoo Culture
You've heard of Christmas in July, but we're about to get all Halloween in June this week as we prepare for the debut of the second season of HBO's TrueBlood. Any juicy suggestions or questions? Let us know.
There is more to Louisiana than just New Orleans' French Quarter and southern cooking, and if you look to the Louisiana of True Blood, that means visits to spooky cemeteries in the middle of the night.
If vampire Bill Compton isn't sleeping beneath your feet in the local graveyard, then Tara is undergoing some voodoo rituals in the back corner. A perfect setting for all this is Oakland Cemetery in Shreveport, founded in 1847, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts of a fine creepy history all its own.
Just outside of downtown Shreveport, in Oakland's earth rests the town's old notorious madam, Masons, nephews of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and a whole patch of victims of the yellow fever epidemics. Almost no new graves have been added in the last seventy years and it is believed that "there are nearly as many unmarked graves here as marked ones." On the ones that do still stand, voodoo rituals are not uncommon and visitors will often gifts, like little necklaces, strewn about the area. A question to any potential grave robbers: do you really want stuff associated with voodoo?
Related Stories:
· Oakland Cemetery [Official Site]
· Oakland Cemetery [Haunted LA]
· Louisiana Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: cybertoad]
Tags: Thanatourism / Hollywood / Music Travel / Death / → All Tags
Come and See Jim Morrison's Former Garage Door in LA
Tourism of sites related to death, or Thanatourism, is a curious and constantly popular pursuit around the world. Perhaps you've been a thanatourist without realizing it; visiting a Holocaust camp and even Hollywood star maps pinpointed with death locations definitely count. One such new offering also falls underneath the Thantourism banner, and it just happens to be tours of Jim Morrison's last US residence, an apartment in West Hollywood.
For $10 per person, diehard Doors fans can take a self-guided tour of the 6-unit villa estate built in 1932, complete with a brochure of anecdotes from when Jim lived there. Please contain your excitement; the tour only gets better!
Listen to The Doors music played in the courtyard area, "almost as if they were playing in concert there for you once again," and don't forget to pass by a bust of the man himself and snap pictures of "other interesting items such as Jim's former garage door."
If that hasn't yet completely filled you with the presence of Morrison's ghost, then how about buying a "ziplock baggie of dirt" from the property with signed certificate of authenticity? It's $10 as well, but available in limited quantities, so get on that before you miss out on a "shrewd memorabilia investment opportunity."
For more information on the "tour" or to buy things from inside of Jim's old place, check out the building's MySpace page.
Related Stories:
· Cheri Woods Rentals [MySpace]
· Death Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photos: Cheriwoods Rentals]
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Do Not Want: The Titanic Memorial Cruise
File this in the annals of Thanatourism: a charter tour company is offering a 12-day transatlantic cruise in April 2012, which will not only commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, but will seek to mimic the original passage as closely as possible. Even the ship itself, The Balmoral of Fred Olsen Cruise Line, whose parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic, comes close to the specifics of the ill-fated ship.
While we're aware that there are plenty of Titanic fanatics out there possibly willing to drop £2,595 ($3,776) and up for a berth on the cruise, we hope they realize this will be no vacation; it is more akin to a funeral procession. Carrying the same number of passengers as the Titanic—1,309—and playing the music of and serving meals from the menus of that tragic voyage, The Balmoral cruise is destined to be a mellow affair...or so we'd hope.
