Even if it hadn't been a chilly damp day, being inside Notre Dame cathedral would still give me goose bumps. Take a look at those soaring arches and wonder what it must have been like to build them. Although as the various guides were pointing out, if it weren't for those spider-leg flying buttresses outside, the whole thing would come crashing down.
Some of the windows were restored in the 19th century. Like most cathedrals, this one was built over a long period of time and has been repaired as time has eroded it.
Even though it's now late September, Notre Dame was still packed, a steady stream of visitors, cel phones held high to take photos, cameras flashing, shuffling along, up one side aisle and down another.
Still, there were pockets of absolute calm as in the side chapel where this old lady was lighting a candle.
On another small-scale "human" note, the pews have seats woven of rushes like the simple chair in Van Gogh's painting of his bedroom.
Back outside, we stood back and looked up at the facade. Each time we come, we pay our respects to a certain saint who we call "Saint Gormless" because of his dim-witted expression and the fact that he seemed to ignore the fact that his hat had fallen over his eyes. It was only when we looked at a close up shot of him that we realized that the hat brim is actually a snake. Divine apologies are in order.
2 comments:
I just returned from Paris.I was captured by its beauty, the joy, the pulsating energy, the cleanliness, the art, the food and its coffee. Oh! to be 20.
The ride on the River Seine was relaxing yet uplifting. To witness the pleasure that young and old were enjoying along its banks and on the flat boats could in itself intice me to stay longer. Walking throught the streets and dodging scooter was even fun while we attempted to hold onto our midmorning snack.
Speaking flying buttresses have you read The Pillars of the Earth? A girlfriend recently lent it to me and it was amazing!
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