Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame has always been in my mind even as a child. Obviously the Eiffel Tower is the first thing I think of Paris but Notre Dame is second. The Gothic, Catholic cathedral was always in cartoons or I'd hear of it a lot as I was growing up.

Charlemagne statue

Right outside of Notre Dame is a statue of Charlemagne. There is written text that says "Charlemagne et ses Leudes."

West Front

These three very entrances to the cathedral has very detailed carved portals. They are all biblical scenes and represents the life of Mary, the Virgin, The Last Judgement and the Life of Saint Anne. Notre Dame took almost 200 years to build and construction started in 1163 and ending in 1345 during Louis VII's reign. Henry VI of England was crowned in Notre Dame.

Look closely. I thought this was so morbid. (Above picture)

Rose Windows

Three magnificent Rose windows, each are located on the north, south and west. Only the north window has the original 13th century stained glass showing the Virgin surround by Old Testament figures. The south window has Christ surround by the Apostles.

Messages of Hope

There was a big box full of paper and as I got closer I saw that you could write your message of hope and stick it in the box. I wrote my message and saw it fall inside the box and I smiled, saw people drop theirs and made me feel some warm fuzzies inside.

Two nuns who were praying facing one of the Rose windows. Tip: If you go to Notre Dame on Sunday afternoons you can hear an organ recital.

Going to Notre Dame almost felt unreal. The whole cathedral was so decorated with the carvings, stained glass, many statues of saints and the stained glass was so pretty. There is so much history in Paris, America is a young country in comparison so I am continually awed whenever I go to Europe and see landmarks that are incredibly old. That's my favorite part about Paris, the rich history, the beautiful landmarks and while we were walking around I couldn't help but to think that long ago people saw some of the same things I saw too.