Paris is one of my favorite cities and on my first view, when exiting the Metro was Notre Dame in all her glory. It rained while we were there and I wanted to rush down to the Cathedral is see water coming out of the gargoyles mouth. Actually that no longer happens, as there are various pipes that take care of this.
Interestingly
I’ve done several “take a breaks” that feature Notre Dame. One was on the
difference between gargoyles and chimeras. A true gargoyle is basically a
drainpipe, designed to get water off the roof and away from the building. There
is a trench in the gargoyle and the water typically comes spurting out of there.
Often
referred to as gargoyles, the creatures perched on the balcony of Notre Dame
are actually “chimeras,” which are mixes of different types of animal parts.
My
favorite view was from the back as I loved the flying buttresses, that support
the walls.
Take
a virtual tour of Notre Dame.
In
honor of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, Notre Dame mounted
the most incredible light show. While it’s in French, it’s an amazing
spectacle.
The 25-minute display, "Dame de
Coeur," tells the 800-year history of the cathedral through LEDs and 3D
video mapping and was shown twice a day. On a
battlefield in 1917, the show opens with an injured American soldier who tells
a young French nurse he regrets never visiting Notre-Dame. The
event seeks to demonstrate the incredible history of the building, through the
lens of the tragedy of WWI, and especially in homage to the American soldiers
who fought in France during the country’s time of deep peril.
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