Showing posts with label Notre Dame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Notre Dame. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2008
beauté est la bête - Notre Dame Spectaculaire
From the ground looking up...
This one was weird. It was only about 5 metres off the ground, just around the corner from the left door of the church. I checked around the right corner but there was no twin...
And then once we arrived up to the Gallery of Chimere it got really interesting.
This is the most famous of all the gargoyles and chimera on Notre Dame. His name is the Stryga.
day three (3): la tour des tours et plus
After our apero, we decided to take it easy a little while longer and so instead of schlepping through the Metro again to get to our next destination, we hopped on the Batobus and relaxed as we floated down the seine and caught the sights...
Notre Dame, one last time...
The Conciergerie-Palais de Justice. It was the Conciergerie where Marie-Antoinette and her children were kept prior to her be-heading.
Le Pont Neuf. -- The 'New" bridge, is in fact the oldest bridge in the City. "Isn't it Ironic..."
Le Louvre...
Musée d'Orsay...
Le Pont Alexandre III...
And then onto the day's final destination...
day three (2): la tour des tours et plus
After crossing the Seine from 'l'Hôtel de Ville to Île de la Cité on the Pont d'Arcole we soon arrived at, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris Damn, its impressive! HUGE! MASSIVE. Notre Dame. It's plain to see why it's such an inspiration to people, spiritually and otherwise.
To the left of the Portail de la Vierge we see (l-r):
Charlemagne, Angel #1, Saint-Denis (and his head), Angel #4.
There another statue of Saint-Denis somewhere in the Cathedral WITH his head, but I didn't find it...
Then on to the interior:
The Nave...
The vaulted ceiling of the Nave...
Looking down the Nave toward the Sanctuary...
Some wood carvings...
And the good lady herself... Notre Dame...
Unfortunately, between the two of use, we were unable to capture any good photos of the rose windows... so you'll just have to so see them for yourself.
After touring the inside we decided to take the tour of the Towers. Only 400 steps...
At the 1/2 way mark we stopped at a GIFT SHOP?!?! where there are also the Steps of Esmeralda (way to suck in the tourists, I'm sure a lot of them believe it's true)
Once on the Chimera Gallery, a mere 46 metres above the ground, there were wonderful views of the city. In this one you can see La Tour Eiffel, La Defense, Le Palais de Justice, La Sainte-Chapelle.
Next we see some of the Gargoyles, Chimeras, Saint-Gabriel, The Central Spire over the Transept, with the Apostles standing guard...
"Emmanuel" the 13 Ton bell in the South Tower.
Looking straight down from the gallery looking toward the Place du Parvis.
If you look (at the photo above) at the top of the photo, a little right from centre there is a small group of people looking down. They are looking at 'Point Zero' This is considered the centre of Paris and the figurative centre of France, and the point from which all distances are measured.
Now let's go back up to the towers...
Here we see Didier and a rather hungry looking Chimera.
After looking around the Gallery, we headed up to the top of the South Tower where the views got even more wonderful, and slightly nerve-racking... Lets look down to the ground again shall we... this time at 67 metres...
Toward the back of the Church, down to the Seine...
Once back down on the ground you can see the wonderful statue of Charlemagne.
After Notre Dame it was time to take a break, have a little something to drink, and so we crossed the Pont au Double and stopped at the Café Panis (in the picture it is just across the bridge and where the two crosswalks meet. The Café has the white awning...
A Glass of Chardonnay for Monsieur and a Ricard for me... not a bad view eh? (The Cathedral, not me!)
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