Au Revoir Paris

So it’s our last day in Paris but I can tell the long days of walking are taking a bit of a toll on all of us.  Decided to have a sleep in day and it was time for some planning for Italy and Croatia.  Shan and I got up for breakfast and booked our accommodation in Cinque Terra and Rome.  Breakfast consists of a croissant, bun with jam and coffee/juice.  It’s a simple breakfast but adequate as it comes with the room.

Our only plan was to see

Lunch on the Seine

Notre Dame and take the free tour with a local Parisan, something Shannon had seen online and we had heard was well worth it.  So back on the bus, we’re getting pretty efficient at navigation, or so we thought.  Once the bus showed up we jumped on, only to have it stop five stations later and everyone jumped off.  So after a broken conversation with the driver, he signed our tickets and told us where to go to catch the bus into town.

After our late start and slight detour we missed the tour we were aiming for so had some time to waste.  The girls hit the stores for souvenirs and I had a little walk around with the camera.  Checked out a little book store called Shakespeare and Company and yep, you guessed it that was where all the old writers used to hang out back in the 1800’s.

So we gathered outside Notre Dame for the tour and we got a little history lesson.  Turns out Notre Dame was constructed in 1163 and took just over 100 years to build.  It was going to be destroyed after the French Revolution as it was in major disrepair from all the vandalism of the statues from conquering nations, if it weren't for novelist Victor Hugo, who wrote the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I haven’t read it, only seen the Disney version which I've been told has a way happier ending than the book.  It was written to raise interest about the building and its importance and luckily the cathedral was saved.  The architect, Viollet Le Duc rebuilt it and added a few things including himself in a few of the statues.  He wasn't exactly modest and has himself in there with the kings and also looking at the spire, admiring his work!

Apparently Gothic

Note the three unit vertical and horizontal of Notre Dame.

architecture originated in France and is based on units of three.  Notre Dame was built with three sections across and three sections up.  It tells a story of the mother Mary on the left, the Judgement was the middle and the right was the birth of Christ (Zoom into the photos as the detail is incredible).  Pretty crazy how well the Judgement has pictographs, with the 10 commandments along the bottom and the apostles, with Jesus and the angels holding all the implements of the crucifixion.  Above that are the angels and devils weighing the souls of the people and showing some going to hell while others get on to heaven.  As it was described, it’s amazing how the ancient stone carving depict this in one entranceway.  Each sculpture was carved into a huge chunk of angled stone and had to fit perfectly.

The three entrances of Notre Dame.

The story of the Judgement.

We walked

See the gargoyles that conduct water away from the building.
Be cool to see it when raining.

around to the side to see the construction of the cathedral and the flying buttresses.  It enabled the construction of the open architecture where these crazy arches are supported by the pillars and all the weight is borne on those pillars.  You can also see the gargoyles on the side of the building where they are how they decorated the down spouts for taking the water away from the building.  This is where the name gargoyle came from as the beasts gurgle when it’s raining and hence the name gargoyle after a few translations!  As you can probably tell, I was pretty into this tour.

The south view of Notre Dame with the Seine in the fore ground.

The area around the island where Notre Dame is located was the main center in medieval times.  The holy part was on the main island, the artistic side was the right bank on the Seine and the left bank was the commerce area.  The Seine was used as a major port but with these smaller boats as they had to make it under the bridge arches.  We ventured into the commerce side and wandered the streets after to tour to find dinner and of course we had to have crepes before leaving Paris.  The kids are just starting to figure out French and now we’re leaving to stumble along in Italian.... arrivadirchey!