Paris Cemetery inspired cross-stitch

In my Lonely Planet guidebook for Paris there is a beautiful photo showing the gate to a crypt in a Paris cemetery (probably the big fancy cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried).  For whatever reason it inspired me to design and do a cross-stitch.  In the end, I bit off much more than I needed to, but c'est la vie.

I often brought the cross-stitch to class, to the surprise of classmates and the probable chagrin of lecturers, but it made such a difference in my ability to pay attention.  When I have something mindless to keep my hands busy, my attention span is much improved.  I may come by this genetically, since I've been told that my grandmother knit my security blanket during meetings!

As with any project, there are things I would change about this one, including being more attentive to where I wanted the shadow to be so it was more consistent.  I also mis-counted the squares, and towards the end I had to modify the top to make it fit (oops)!