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Notre Dame de Paris
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Three days ago I promised to show you a few glimpses of Notre Dame de Paris, the cathedral made famous by Quasimodo and his notorius back. This is a functioning place of worship that allows people to tour its sanctuary and to climb its renowned towers.
Here was my first view of the cathedral. I was walking from Sainte Chappelle, about half a mile away (see the blog for 17 April), and as I approached, I came upon a stand of trees on the edge of the square in front of the church. They hid the building from my view, until, as I got closer, it peeped through the branches, and I got this shot.
Walking on, I got this more complete view that showed the entire ornate facade. You can see multiple images of saints about one third of the way up, like a belt running around the building. As you can see, there are renovations in progress on the left tower. In addition, they are also renovating the interior of the church.
There were hundreds of people in the square, some perhaps having just returned from a tour of the cathedral, others planning to enter, and still others just being there. The man in the foreground in the photo on the left, was just gazing, taking in the sights.
The man on the right was otherwise occupied. He seemed to be having an absolute ball feeding the pigeons and other birds. For the pigeons he threw feed from his bag on the ground. You can see how unafraid they were of him. Perhaps he was a familiar sight to them. For the other birds, he simply held scraps in his hand and let them fly to it. If you look closely, you can see several of them lighted on his hand or fluttering around it.
When I approached the entrance the line was not too long, and was moving fairly briskly. Look at all the carvings on either side of the door, including the row of saints we mentioned earlier.
As we entered the foyer, we were greeted with a sign reminding us of the need for silence. Keep in mind that this is an active church, holding regular services for worshippers. Notice also the small black sign with the admonition that seemed to appear everywhere people gather in Paris: look out for pick-pockets.
The sign in the third photo directed visitors to the right, where we would go around the periphery of the sanctuary, while worshippers were directed to the left, where they could enter the worship area in the center. A mass was scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
There were many small candles burning in various containers around the sanctuary. An offering of 2 Euros was suggested if you wanted to light a candle of your own, but the offering was voluntary.
These worshippers were waiting for the mass to begin. They were very quiet, and a few seemed to be in prayer.
As I continued my circuit around the perimeter of the church, I came upon this statue of someone I'd heard of since childhood: Joan of Arc. Of course, in French, she's referred to as Jeanne D'Arc. You know her story, and it's spelled out on the plaque beside the statue.
By the time I got two-thirds of the way around the building, the mass had started. The priest here was singing as an organ accompanied him, and each of his incantations was answered by another priest, out of camera view, to the left. This appeared to be a temporary stage, because the main stage was under renovation.
Now as I progressed to the back of the sanctuary, I got this shot that shows the second priest, seated on the right. Just after I took this photo, he stood and began to lead out, while the first priest sat down. Some people remained standing for this part of the service. As you can see, there's a kind of temporary partition behind the priests, and the organ was actually out of sight behind that partition.
As I was leaving, I caught this visitor, lost in thought and meditation, reviewing the announcements of upcoming services and events at the cathedral.
Well, that was Notre Dame. A famous place I'd always heard of but never thought I might see. If you're curious about Sainte Chappelle, the other church I visited, take a look at the archive for April 17.
TTYL.
Here was my first view of the cathedral. I was walking from Sainte Chappelle, about half a mile away (see the blog for 17 April), and as I approached, I came upon a stand of trees on the edge of the square in front of the church. They hid the building from my view, until, as I got closer, it peeped through the branches, and I got this shot.
Walking on, I got this more complete view that showed the entire ornate facade. You can see multiple images of saints about one third of the way up, like a belt running around the building. As you can see, there are renovations in progress on the left tower. In addition, they are also renovating the interior of the church.
 |  |
There were hundreds of people in the square, some perhaps having just returned from a tour of the cathedral, others planning to enter, and still others just being there. The man in the foreground in the photo on the left, was just gazing, taking in the sights.
The man on the right was otherwise occupied. He seemed to be having an absolute ball feeding the pigeons and other birds. For the pigeons he threw feed from his bag on the ground. You can see how unafraid they were of him. Perhaps he was a familiar sight to them. For the other birds, he simply held scraps in his hand and let them fly to it. If you look closely, you can see several of them lighted on his hand or fluttering around it.
 |  |  |
When I approached the entrance the line was not too long, and was moving fairly briskly. Look at all the carvings on either side of the door, including the row of saints we mentioned earlier.
As we entered the foyer, we were greeted with a sign reminding us of the need for silence. Keep in mind that this is an active church, holding regular services for worshippers. Notice also the small black sign with the admonition that seemed to appear everywhere people gather in Paris: look out for pick-pockets.
The sign in the third photo directed visitors to the right, where we would go around the periphery of the sanctuary, while worshippers were directed to the left, where they could enter the worship area in the center. A mass was scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
There were many small candles burning in various containers around the sanctuary. An offering of 2 Euros was suggested if you wanted to light a candle of your own, but the offering was voluntary.
These worshippers were waiting for the mass to begin. They were very quiet, and a few seemed to be in prayer.
 |  |
As I continued my circuit around the perimeter of the church, I came upon this statue of someone I'd heard of since childhood: Joan of Arc. Of course, in French, she's referred to as Jeanne D'Arc. You know her story, and it's spelled out on the plaque beside the statue.
By the time I got two-thirds of the way around the building, the mass had started. The priest here was singing as an organ accompanied him, and each of his incantations was answered by another priest, out of camera view, to the left. This appeared to be a temporary stage, because the main stage was under renovation.
Now as I progressed to the back of the sanctuary, I got this shot that shows the second priest, seated on the right. Just after I took this photo, he stood and began to lead out, while the first priest sat down. Some people remained standing for this part of the service. As you can see, there's a kind of temporary partition behind the priests, and the organ was actually out of sight behind that partition.
As I was leaving, I caught this visitor, lost in thought and meditation, reviewing the announcements of upcoming services and events at the cathedral.
Well, that was Notre Dame. A famous place I'd always heard of but never thought I might see. If you're curious about Sainte Chappelle, the other church I visited, take a look at the archive for April 17.
TTYL.
