Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

I live so close to Notre-Dame, that I see it on a daily basis and hear the church bells ring every hour. And none of it ever gets old. It has become my church of choice and I often find myself visiting on Sundays. Although, I will admit, waiting on a large tourist line to get inside to say a prayer will never feel normal.

This Sunday, I decided to become a Notre-Dame tourist, because, why not? Notre-Dame de Paris, French for Our Lady of Paris is one of the best examples of French Gothic Architecture and one of the most well known Cathedrals in the world. The Cathedral is one of the first buildings in the world to build flying buttresses (the arched exterior supports). Originally, they were not planned for, but the walls of the Church are high and thinner than usual due to the Gothic Style. This combination  caused stress fractures to appear during construction. The flying buttresses were placed around the choir and the nave to give support to the outer walls and as construction continued the architects added more to continue the pattern.

View of Notre-Dame and the flying buttresses

The inside of the Cathedral is beautiful. It's made up of long halls and high vaulted ceilings. The many stained glass windows allow just enough light to trickle through, providing a calming effect. You cannot access the second floor of the Cathedral, which forces us to stay on the ground and only gaze upwards. This was done purposefully, to represent how people in the Medieval time saw humanity and divinity.

Looking down the main Aisle

Near the rear of the Cathedral you can visit the Treasury. Housed inside are intricate crosses, crowns, chalices and monstrances made of gold and other precious materials. Continuing behind the apse there are many little chapels that you pass by, dedicated to certain Saints with beautiful stained glass windows.

The Chapel that I visit

After, I decided to head up to the top of Notre Dame. It was quite windy on the ground and the line took a good 40 minutes but the view from the top was breathtaking. Hiking up 387 spiraled steps provides a great view of Paris and the famous gargoyles. The Gargoyles were built into the ends of the gutters to drain rainwater off the roof. They were built extending far away from the roof, allowing the rain water to fall away from the church walls, preventing water damage. The chimeras are used as simple decorations and most of them are on the façade, watching the people below and scanning the city. The gargoyles and chimeras are all unique and the sculptors really used their imaginations when creating them.

Gargoyles and Chimeras

View from the top with the Eiffel Tower &
La Défense in the back right (where I work)