On the morning of Sept. 17, 2016 we visited historic Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The cathedral is as amazing as I’d expected. I’m so in awe of the Gothic architecture. Such an amazing achievement for the Middle Ages. Modern buildings are less durable.

As usual, we took the Metro and walked across the Seine. This was our initial view of the cathedral. As you can see it was a gloomy morning, with rain to come later in the day. We started out by queuing up our Rick Steves podcast/tour of the historic district, but gave it up after a while. There were too many long explanations that kept us rooted to the spot while all the other tourists moved around us.

We did listen to what he said about the facade and doorways of Notre Dame. The intricate detail is pretty amazing.

Ornate Doorway at Notre Dame de Paris

The statues in the picture are of the Biblical kings. During the French Revolution people thought the statues represented the French kings and so they decapitated the statues. A priest collected the heads and hid them away. After the Revolution ended, the kings had their heads restored.

Statues of the Biblical Kings on the facade of Notre Dame de Paris

It seemed crowded, and we later learned that many attractions were free that weekend, and people came from all around to visit Paris. We still flashed our Museum Passes when we entered. We didn’t linger, but I did try to get a photo of the famed Rose Window. However, the light wasn’t conducive to picking up the beautiful colors. It looked much better in person.

Rose Window of Notre Dame de Paris

When we came back out, we walked around the side of the building. Here’s a slide show of what we saw.

Our tour of the historic area of Paris will continue next week.

Happy armchair traveling,

Linda