Saturday 7 July 2007

Notre Dame, Part 2

Today I returned to Notre Dame, to fight the hordes of tourists and somehow make it inside. Notre Dame is on of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris, along with the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and once I was inside I could really feel that. The place was completely packed and you are sort of shuffled along this tourist conveyor belt as the hordes move around the outside of the cathedral. They have confessional booths set-up around the outside and the centre is meant for people praying, though god knows why you would go to one of the least peaceful churches in the world to pray! I think the catholic church should just admit that it's basically just a tourist attraction now and go all out. The cathedral itself is amazing and you can see why it took 200 years to finish. Though I think the upper bit was better, being able to see the gargoyles. So if you only want to stand in one massive line when you go to Notre Dame, I would chose the line that goes up the bell tower. Below are some pictures of the stained glass windows and the inside of the cathedral.
The entrance to Notre-Dame, with a small line in front of me,
this line only gets longer as the day goes on
A weird statue inside, I don't know who is is meant to be, but they are climbing out of a coffin. The catholics go in for some strange art work
The inside of the cathedral looking over the alter, with the obligatory stained glass windows

No comments: