What people ask us before entrusting us with a grave

We go to your loved one’s grave in your family’s place. At every visit: we look at the state of the monument, we clean the stone according to its material, we weed the surroundings by hand, we place a dried flower arrangement, then we leave the photos and the report in your private space.

Racha Blottiaux, who founded Racine du Souvenir, makes the visits herself. The house was created on 2 juillet 2026 and she runs it alone: the person who travels, who photographs and who writes the report you read is the same. Before this, she spent more than ten years in property and building management, part of it in London.

No, never. That is the point of the service: we go for families who live far away, who no longer drive, or who can no longer make the journey. You receive the photos after every visit.

We go to every cemetery in Essonne and to the neighbouring towns, just south of Paris, setting out from Viry-Châtillon. For somewhere further afield, write to us: we will answer you honestly. Just tell us the town and the cemetery concerned: we will confirm, openly, whether we can go there before you subscribe. We never set up a subscription for a place we cannot reach, and that check is never charged to you.

No. We arrange no funerals, we sell neither monuments nor plots, and we do no stonemasonry. We care for graves that already exist and, if work is needed, we point you towards qualified craftspeople.

Racine du Souvenir is neither an emergency service, nor a building or stonemasonry firm, nor a transport service, nor a bereavement counselling service. Writing this limit down avoids setting up an expectation we could not meet. For what falls outside it, we point you towards the right person when we know one.

We tell you straight away, with photos, and we cover the repair. Responsabilité civile professionnelle souscrite auprès de Hiscox, pour l’ensemble des interventions réalisées par la maison.

In four steps. You choose a plan. You send us a recent photo of the grave, telling us whether there is already a vase there. If the place is in good shape, everything is confirmed directly; if not, we suggest a big clean, priced on quotation, before we start. We then create your memory space, and we set the first visit.

Because a commitment made blind is worth nothing. The photo tells us about the material, the exposure, the state of the joints, the plants and the access. It also becomes the first marker in the « grave over time » gallery. A phone photo is enough, as long as it is less than a month old and shows the whole monument.

A big clean is sometimes needed before regular care can begin. We judge that from the photo you send us: settled moss, lichen, clogged joints, rooted plants. On quotation, once we have seen your photos: it is billed separately from the subscription, once only, and you remain free to decline the quote. The detail is on the plans page.

The name of the deceased, your bond with them, the flowers or attentions to favour, the dates that matter to your family, and the memories you want to keep there. These are what guide each visit. Without them, the care would be correct, but anonymous.

The vase is not included in the plans, which is why we ask whether there is already one there. With Essential Presence, the arrangement goes in the existing vase. With Continuous Presence, a vase can be added on request. With Heritage Presence, a vase is on us at the first installation if one is missing.

It depends on the plan: 4, 8, or 12 visits a year, from one visit each season to one visit every month. One-off services, for their part, are ordered one by one, with no subscription.

Black soap, baking soda and a soft brush. The weeding is entirely by hand: no chemical weedkiller, on the stone or around it. The detail of every gesture is on the « What we do » page.

No. Granite, marble and limestone do not react the same way, and polished marble is not brushed like rough granite. That is also what we look for in the photo you send us before the first visit.

Because they last from one visit to the next: a fresh arrangement placed in September is no longer presentable in October, and nobody will be there to take it away. They are simple with Essential Presence, fuller with Continuous Presence, and chosen from our selection with Heritage Presence.

You are told quickly, with photos. Depending on your plan, we can speak with the cemetery office, look for stonemasons and bring you two quotes to help you compare. It costs you nothing more, and nothing is launched without your agreement.

The dates that matter to your family, All Saints’ Day, a birthday, the date of death, are noted when you subscribe, whichever plan you choose. Placing visits around those dates first comes with Continuous Presence and Heritage Presence, subject to our availability and to the notice period. Outside a subscription, a one-off visit can be booked for the date of your choice.

We remove nothing without your agreement, except wilted plants and debris. An object moved or knocked over is put back in place, and the report tells you so.

A private space, kept for your family, where the reports, photos and videos of every visit are stored, with the full history of the visits. What it holds, plan by plan, is set out in the comparison table.

Yes. You invite whoever you want, brothers and sisters, children, grandchildren, and each has their own access. You can withdraw an access at any time.

A visit only appears in your space once its report has been written and published. While it is being prepared, neither the photos nor the notes can be seen: you will never receive a half-finished report.

Yes, whenever you like and as much as you like. The photos and the reports can be downloaded from your space. They are yours.

Three levels of care: Essential Presence, €59 a month for 4 visits a year, €708 over 12 months ; Continuous Presence, €99 a month for 8 visits a year, €1,188 over 12 months ; Heritage Presence, €169 a month for 12 visits a year, €2,028 over 12 months. The family space is included in all three. The restoration clean and the one-off services are paid separately.

You commit for twelve months, one full year of care and attention for the grave. At each anniversary the subscription renews for a further twelve months, unless you cancel by registered letter received at least one month before the contract’s anniversary date. That length matches the real rhythm of the service: a plan only makes sense once it has been through all four seasons. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period already paid: the visits already paid for are made.

The visits stop, but what you keep there does not vanish that day. The space stays open to read after cancellation, long enough to download the photos, the videos and the reports: they belong to you. Nothing is deleted without a warning email, and you can ask for immediate deletion at any time. The exact times are written into our privacy policy.

No. The prices shown are net: the house falls under the French VAT exemption for small businesses, and the note « TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI » appears on every invoice. No VAT can be reclaimed on our invoices.

Yes, from your family space. The change takes effect on your contract’s anniversary date, for the next billing period.

By card. Payments go through Stripe: we do not keep your card number on our servers. Every invoice is left in your family space.

Yes. The subscription is tied to a grave, and you choose who has access to the family space. Write to us, and we will arrange it with you and with the person concerned.

On servers in the European Union. The photos and documents are kept in private storage: they are never reachable through a public address, only through a short-lived link created for a signed-in member of your family.

The people you have invited into your family space, and Racha Blottiaux, who makes the visits and writes the reports. Nobody else.

No. No photo taken for your family is ever published, passed on or reused. The pictures on this site show no grave entrusted to us by a family.

You can ask from your family space or by email to contact@racinedusouvenir.fr. We delete the account and everything with it, except the invoices the law requires us to keep. The details are on our Your data page.