After a short break at the hotel, we hopped on to our bus again and headed for our first travel destination in Paris… the Notre Dame (Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris).
Photo of Notre Dame de Paris
Prior to the visit at Notre Dame, all I wanted from Paris was to ascend Eiffel Tower and have a peak at Mona Lisa at the Louvre… but I changed the idea after seeing the cathedral up close.
The carvings and sculptures on the wall of Notre Dame were simply amazing. I used to think that Notre Dame is just an old and huge cathedral; I never perceived that it would be a masterpiece of art and architecture. The experience really opens my mind that there must be lots of places and stuff (besides Eiffel and Mona Lisa) in Paris that would enlighten me during the tour.
Sculptures above the entrance at western facade of Notre Dame
We were just on time to enter the cathedral as it was closing in another half an hour, and how lucky we were. My sister was charmed by the lovely Rose Windows, but I was simply stunned by the enormous size of the cathedral… it simply took my breath away as I never thought that a church could be that huge.
Enormous interior of Notre Damel
Even though I am not a religious person, I felt so calm and peaceful inside Notre Dame. It was a wonderful experience, and a great place to kick-start my journey in Paris.
Rose Window inside Notre Dame
Notre Dame - random facts
Notre Dame means ‘our lady’ in French. The construction of the cathedral was started in 1163, and was only fully completed in 1345.
Notre Dame was almost destructed in early 19th century due to disrepair. Victor Hugo then wrote the famous “Hunchback of Notre Dame” which played a part in raising interest to restore the Gothic cathedral, which finally happened in 1845.
Notre Dame is still used as a Roman Catholic cathedral these days.
[More pictures of Notre Dame at my next post]