The Noteworthy Notre Dame

The first thing that strikes me when I turn onto Parvis Notre Dame/Place Jean-Paul II, the plaza facing the Notre Dame Cathedral, is just how good Disney artists are.

(Thanks for the image, hunchblog.com.) In fact, getting your kids excited about seeing a Disney movie in real life may be a great way to get them excited about what could otherwise be a not-so-kid-friendly (read: very boring!) tourist outing. Once I recovered from snapping my neck back to absorb the Notre Dame in all of its height, I realized there are a few inescapable truths centered around the Notre Dame Cathedral.

1. Any expat feeling lonely in the City of Lights should come to Notre Dame to reunite with their countrymen. That is because they have all decided to gather here.
2. There is no such thing as the helpless elderly. We had no less than 6 octogenarians shove their way in front of us in line. To their credit, they showered Baby Girl with smiles revealing gleaming white dentures in exchange.
3. It is completely valid in French architectural history to arrange statues of baby Jesus, goblins, and scary birds all in a row on the outside of arguably the most significant cathedral in said nation’s history.

That being said, we loved it. We know our way around the Old Lady and it was a sweet moment getting to go on a photo shoot together. The Notre Dame is a great landmark to visit in Paris because:

1. It is completely FREE!
2. The architecture is amazing.
3. If you’re lucky, you’ll be there when the choir is singing or the organ is playing. Music from the Notre Dame is worth the time and effort to get there.

On to the pictures. (Click on any picture and you can scroll through the gallery in a full-screen view. Just click your escape button to exit.) Here’s our perspective:

Thanks for reading. Have you ever been to a place that struck you by its history? If you’ve been to Paris, did you get the chance to see Notre Dame? Am I the only one who wants to watch Disney movies now? À la prochaine,