Notre Dame Cathedral Prints

I’ve been diligently working on getting my Paris prints gallery in order.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, despite the fact I wasn’t enthusiastic about Paris, the pictures from the trip have shown me one thing, this is an incredibly photogenic city.  Going through the photos after the fact, I don’t think I recall ever going somewhere with such a high number of photographs I considered keepers.

Notre Dame de Paris translates to English as “Our Lady of Paris.”  There are other Notre Dame’s in France, more cathedrals known as the ladies of their respective cities, but the gorgeous Notre Dame de Paris is very much a special lady.  The Cathedral is part of the Banks of the Seine UNESCO World heritage site.

It was winter when I visited, but the light as seen in this picture during my visit was warm and beautiful – just a perfect compliment for this grand cathedral.  Built between the 12^th and 14^th centuries, it was literally the product of generations of Parisians.  This is what makes places like this feel so special to me.  In a day and age when houses and shopping mall seem to sprout like weeds, it’s hard to imagine building projects where the builders knew they’d never finish.  Would those of us today have the tenacity to begin buildings like this?  You definitely have to have faith that the next generation is committed to seeing it through.

Notre Dame de Paris sits on a natural island in the middle of the Seine river.  The Île de la Cité is considered the heart of Paris, the place where the medieval city was re-founded. And to illustrate the long history in this place, Notre Dame de Paris is just the latest in a line of places of worship on the site, dating back to a Roman temple to Jupiter.  It really feels amazing to visit places like this with such a long recorded history.  And I was so pleased to have such great light for this photo, complete with well placed clouds flanking the cathedral!

The picture above is a real taste of Paris, boating on the famous Seine river past the equally well-known, Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. You can be sure the people on the boat are being told to look left at the great Gothic church! And with an equally dramatic sky to finish it off. So happy for the weather I had in Paris, great light and great clouds for my photos of the city’s landmarks.

One last picture of the beautiful Notre Dame de Paris.  This is another long panorama photo of the cathedral, showing the church from the side.  I love the golden light reflecting in the river beneath the church and of course the great view of the Gothic details of the architecture. I textured this photo because the soft light reminded me so much of a painting and I wanted to take that as my cue in editing this work.

This is literally just a sample of the Notre Dame de Paris prints, hope you’ll check out the rest as well as my Paris prints in the Paris prints gallery!

If you’ve been, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Notre Dame de Paris!  Even if you haven’t, if I’ve neglected to highlight your favorite print of the cathedral, please leave a comment with your choice!