Notre Dame

Notre Dame on a sunny day in Paris: the sun lit up the stained glass into stunningly gorgeous glowing pictures. We walked around slowly, in awe of the beauty, size, and age of the building. Notre Dame Cathedral has been around since the 1100s! Old buildings have seen so much--I always feel connected to the past somehow when I visit historical sites, especially the extra old ones. It's like the buildings are whispering stories, and anyone who slows down and listens carefully enough will hear them. That's the best way I can describe it. Old buildings are the ultimate primary source history--my favorite kind. I can hardly believe that Notre Dame was on the verge of destruction back in the 1800s until Victor Hugo fought for its preservation. All of that history! All of that beauty!

We lingered inside the cathedral for nearly two hours--it was that amazing! I loved the respectful hush that the visitors adopted. Tourists can be a rowdy weird bunch, but inside the cathedrals they were calm. Men were required to remove their hats. Selfie sticks were prohibited in a subtle encouragement of reverent decorum. It felt meaningful--in a substantial way--that so many people from diverse backgrounds came together and universally respected a single church. I was reminded that we don't have to convert to other religions to respect them.

That jewel-toned stained glass colored light reflecting off the walls! 

Light. Reflection. So much symbolism in those two words. 

 The miracles and life of Jesus Christ

 More light and reflection.

  Adam and Eve

 There was this awesome intricate scale wooden replica of Notre Dame. It was really neat to see all of the huge place at once--they really got the details down!

The buttresses! Flying everywhere! 

A lot of the Christmas decorations were still up, including this enormous French pastoral nativity. 

Jesus washing the apostles' feet--always my favorite.

Looking up 

The ceiling 

 It would be SO COOL to go up a level, but sight seers had to stay on the ground floor.

Reflection of light coming through the stained glass opposite: laaa! 

Standing waaaay out front made the giant cathedral seem so small. Thank you for rescuing this beautiful building, Victor Hugo!