Found this thru a Wikipedia link - no idea of accuracy:

Is it possible to be buried in a Paris cemetery if you're not French?
Marie B., one of the founders of the Friends of Pere Lachaise says "Unfortunately, the rules to be buried in a Paris cemetery are rather strict: people may be buried in one of these cemeteries if (and only if) they die in the French capital city or if they lived there. Being buried in Pere-Lachaise is even more difficult nowadays as there is a waiting list: very few plots are available. However, I suppose ashes could be scattered in Pere Lachaise's Garden of Remembrance. You should write to the following address."

PERE LACHAISE
8, boulevard de Ménilmontant
75020 Paris
FRANCE

<< who gets admitted and who goes to the catacombs >>

You crack me up, nukesafe! There are 13 other cemeteries in Paris so you have options.

I remember reading somewhere that unless you're very famous you can only stay in Pere Lachaise for 100 years. After that you're evicted! LOL But I do believe the mausoleum has vacancies.

My vote goes to whomever has the most money or fame is the one who gets to Pere Lachaise.

I wonder why this cemetery is so popular. It's certainly beautiful. Whenever I visit cemeteries in other places I'm constantly comparing them to Pere Lachaise.

If you've never been to Montparnasse cemetery give it a look. It's much smaller but nearly as beautiful.

You can stay there as long as 100 years before being evicted? Wow that is a long time by Dutch standards.

Here you get your grave for 10 years, unless it is a family grave and someone is willing to pay for longer for you after you're gone. If not you're out. Not only that, but unless you pay a lot for a family grave you get to share your hole with a couple of strangers.

Another good reason to be cremated .

The rules are the same as for any other Parisian cemetery. You need to be a Paris resident at the time of death or die in Paris. In Père Lachaise there are no new spaces available but about 300 abandoned spaces each year get re-allocated (but I suppose there is a long waiting list):
http://www.appl-lachaise.net/appl/article.php3?id_article=395
http://www.afif.asso.fr/francais/conseils/conseil30.html

So I guess that means, Adrienne, that there is a 100 year delay before they dig you up and send you to the catacombs. Now that is a long waiting list!

If the Parisian local government is like the ones in US cities, I'll bet they have a whole bureaucracy set up to handle the reallocation of the graves. Wonderful material for a comedy skit.

Susan Sontag managed to be buried in Montparnasse cemetery even though she was not a resident, so clearly it is possible to pull some otherworldly strings if you are rich and famous.

the first and main condition to being buried there is "you must be dead"

Due to overcrowding of the cemeteries inside Paris, the city owns and operates a number of "Parisian" cemeteries in the suburbs. I know that the biggest one is in Thiais out by Orly airport, and I think the second biggest is in Pantin.

The French really plan ahead, because the cemetery in Thiais opened in 1929 and it is still only about 30% full, so come one, come all!

I made a report about it several years ago when an American friend who had been living illegally in Paris for 6 years allowed herself to die (got tired of the constraints of dialysis). If you want to see where "ordinary" Parisians get buried, here is the report: http://tinyurl.com/buriedinthiais

Wonderful and sobering report, Kerouac. Thanks for posting.