Still trying to blog my way through the trip to Europe that Shannon and I took in 2009. Probably will do a lot of switching back and forth between posting these and more current stuff. Feel free to just skip past if you're not interested. I'm just bound and determined to finish this at some point!! Plus, I really like going back and seeing all our pics! :)
Last we left, it was morning and we had a pastry breakfast.
Monday October 26, 2009
Paris, France
After breakfast, we headed straight for Notre Dame de Paris, which means "Our Lady of Paris." We had heard that getting there early was better to avoid crowds, especially if you wanted to climb to the bell tower. Notre Dame sits on a small island where the Seine River splits and meanders around it.
We toured the inside first. It was absolutely gorgeous!! The cornerstone for the building was laid in 1163 and all contruction was finally finished in 1345. I am continually amazed at the architecture and construction from those time periods. We feel so much more progressed these days, but think of how long ago this was and how much they achieved when you look at this building.
The ceilings were *so* tall.
Look at the man in the bottom of the photo (right-center) for a scale reference to how tall the ceiling is.
Here's a video I took of the inside, just trying to capture the magnitude of the building.
Just breathtaking.....
An enclosed, spiral staircase:
It was hard not to take picture after picture of the same thing from different views. It was so hard to capture it all, but I sure wanted to try.
There were stained glass windows everywhere.
The Choir (area between the nave and the sanctuary)
This was a modernized confessional booth, we think. Although, I have to admit it made me chuckle....reminded me of Get Smart's "Cone-of-Silence" in some way.....anybody remember that?
Scale model of the building
And you could even walk away with a flattened, Notre Dame-embossed penny, should you choose. Weird huh?
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