Travel with Rick Steves · Saturday, October 24, 2026
Père Lachaise curator Benoit Gallaud explains that the city council of Paris banned all pesticides in 2015, which led to a massive resurgence of nature in the cemetery, including the appearance of foxes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2015, the city council in Paris suddenly banned all pesticides, and a new era was born in the cemetery”
“Very soon, some flowers were back, and some birds and some animals, like the foxes, who were seen for the first time during the COVID. It was a big surprise.”