September 6 -- Notre Dame

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On the 6th, we thought we might try to see the inside of la Sainte Chapelle.

The subway let us out right by the Hôtel de Ville (city hall).

Looking a bit to the right from the place I took the above....

That's Notre Dame in the background.

(see the pigeon, on the light?)

We had our coffee in sight of Notre Dame.

Looking a bit left of the above -- la Tour Montparnasse.

Done with coffee; ready to cross the river.  The spire is la Sainte Chapelle.

According to Google maps, the two buildings right along the river here are for appeals lawyers, and for the Advocat Conseil de l'Etat (which Google translates as "counsel for the state" -- I wonder if that is similar to our Attorney General....)

Nearing the bridge.

City Hall.

Looking down into the river.  I don't know if these plants are a good sign, or not.  I hope they mean the river is healthy.....

City Hall, encore.

It turned out that the line to get into la Sainte Chapelle was very long.

So we declined.

The line to get into Notre Dame was also very long.  Luckily, we hadn't planned to go inside.

The only other time I was here was in 1970.  Notre Dame was covered in scaffolding, as they worked to clean and refurbish.  It looks great, 40 years later...............

All of the sticky-outy things are gargoyles.

The line..........

I didn't notice the sign about cemeteries until I was processing the pics.........

Zoomed in for a closeup.

Tighter crop of the above.  I wonder if this was the model for Gollem from Lord of the Rings.

Garden beside the cathedral.

Flying buttresses.  These constructions, pressing on the outside of the cathedral wall, allow the walls to hold up the roof without buckling.  Their invention was a large part of making these buildings possible.

I had made up a story in my mind about how those green sculptures were Quasimodo, dragging Esmeralda up the tower, but the reality, when we learned it, was more mundane.....

Flower closeups, from the cathedral gardens.

See my daughter's take on this excellent day here.



In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these posts, here is a link to the post that comes after this one.

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