EXCERPT :

It’s very peaceful here.  When you walk into the cemetery,  it’s like walking into a forest.  Birches and firs, the trees of Russia, sway in the wind between the tombs.  Some of the graves are decorated with blue or gold domes, some carry etchings of the deceased, some bear inscriptions in old Cyrillic characters. One, uncharacteristically, has an inscription in French: Toutes les séparations du temps ne sont qu’un rendezvous pour l’éternité. The French graves on the far side of the cemetery are sealed with slabs of  marble, but the Russian graves are planted with bushes and flowers.