Five Nights in Paris – Part Two
Continuing from my previous post of featured photos in Paris, after an early morning at Sacre Coeur, I made my way to Notre Dame de Paris.
Although as you can see there were a lot of long shadows, there was equally awesome light for my visit to Notre dame. The cathedral is a genuine medieval relic and is a UNESCO world heritage site! And I’m just a sucker for large old cathedrals. There’s something special about these buildings, much like the ancient stone circles. They are community projects from a time when subdivisions didn’t blossom overnight. The people who sat down plans for these buildings did so with the understanding that other generations would finish their work. Notre dame de Paris was begun in 1163 and completed in 1345!
And here’s a front view of the Cathedral. It’s quite an imposing edifice, isn’t it? And it’s packed with details like only old world construction is.
Speaking of the details, here’s an example from the tour that allows you to climb to the top of those front towers. The gargoyles are mostly not original. Some were removed due to changing tastes, and the final straw was the cathedral was damaged in the 1790’s in the French Revolution. It was decades later before interest was revived in the decaying cathedral due to Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. At that time, renovations were undertaken which included the return of the Gargoyles. There was controversy over the restorations by architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Some felt that they weren’t true to history. Regardless, what has come down to us today is truly beautiful. In the distance of course, is the Eiffel Tower.
And that’s where I would be by the time the afternoon sun was shining golden on the mammoth Eiffel Tower. It’s amusing that it was met with equal controversy in its day and never intended to be there permanently. Now, who can imagine Paris without it?
I also wandered over to check out the famous triumphal arch at Place Charles de Gaulle at the end of the Champs-Élysées. I have to say, short of the roads being closed, there’s no way to get a car free photo of this mammoth arch. They do add some scale to the photo, though. I definitely understand the reason behind the almost cliched long exposure night photos taken of this arch – as it blurs the cars into light trails. Perhaps I should have hung out longer for them, but I was running on empty by the time I got here.
The last day in Paris was principally taking in the Louvre museum. It was an undertaking to say the least. I spent hours and hours here and even had a meal there to avoid leaving and still could only have seen a tiny portion of the art and history that’s housed here. It’s truly a labyrinth as I became irreversibly lost on more than one occasion finding myself going in circles instead of to an exhibit for which I was hunting. If you have more than a few days in Paris, I’d consider doing the museum in two parts. If not, be sure to do Wednesday like I did for the longer hours.
I’ve begun posting prints to my online gallery. Please do check them out to see what I’ve chosen as print worthy. And please, let me know if there’s something you saw in the album that wasn’t selected for prints you feel should be. Those opinions are always helpful!
