Our first morning in Paris was spent touring the Musee d'Orssay, which predominantly features French artists and has an entire wing devoted to the French impressionists. The museum was in a converted train station and was quite beautiful. Alas, no photography was allowed.
We then found ourselves a small cafe for lunch before walking down the street a mile or so to visit Notre Dame, an historic and massive catholic cathedral that was quite impressive.
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| Notre Dame rose window |
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| Notre Dame front |
There was a very large bakery competition taking place on the plaza in front of the cathedral, so there were quite a lot of people milling about. There was also a long line to enter the cathedral, but thankfully the line went quickly. As we stood in line, we got a good look at the Charlemagne statue below.
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| Statue of Charlemagne |
Once inside, I lit a candle for my mom and family. It's something I've done in every church I've visited since we learned she was sick. I plan to continue the ritual for the rest of my life.
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| A candle for my Mom |
The official statue of Joan of Arc inside Notre Dame cathedral.
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| Joan of Arc statue |
Bill spent quite a while absorbed in various works of art and stained glass.
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| Bill and stained glass |
Inside the Notre Dame treasure were many reliquaries. A reliquary, I have learned, is a container that holds a memento of a saint, typically a body part. The reliquary in the photo below held the femur bone of a saint, but I can't remember which one - sorry! And also, ewww! :-)
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| Relic of a Saint - femur bone! |
In every nook and cranny there were statues, art, and stained glass. But then when you stepped back, the cathedral as a whole was also very beautiful and impressive.
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| Notre Dame nave |
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| Notre Dame nave |
Once back outside, we walked around the cathedral to get a look at the famous gargoyles of Notre Dame. If you zoom in you can see them a bit better, but alas, I did not have my telephoto lens with me on this trip.
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| Gargoyles! |
The back of Notre Dame is famous for its flying buttresses. They are also quite famous and beautiful, but the photo doesn't really do them justice. What an amazing cathedral!
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| Flying buttresses |
Looks like you had a good trip, if wet at times. We did the Louvre, Eiffel, Notre Dame, and Vesailles, too.
ReplyDeleteWe like Impressionist art and have wanted to go to Musee d'Orsay, too. Lucky you! Each time we've been to Paris, it was closed. There was a strike the first time, and the last time it was being remodeled. That was the reason for several Impressionist exhibits at the Legion of Honor in SF, but not the same. So we must return to Paris someday to see the d'Orsay.