Thoughts on the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral

I was quite surprised to see how large the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral actually was. I only got a glimpse of it from the river cruise ferry and didn’t think it was that large. However, up close you get to see how large this place really is. I didn’t know much about the Notre-Dame apart from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame the animed movie. I didn’t even read the book. There were gargoyles in the movie and indeed the gargoyles are one of the unique parts of the cathedral. It is a bit strange to see such un-biblical characters on a church design. You can see the gargoyles if you go in the church and probably up the towers. It is not very easy to see from the ground.

One side of the cathedral was lined with cafes for people queuing up to go in the cathedral. I remembered how it was the same for our visit to the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona where there were restaurants across the basilica. Interestingly, the chairs of the restaurants were almost all facing outside. I thought it was strange as I would probably prefer to face in towards whoever I was with. If I was alone, I would not face outside, I don’t like strangers in the queue watching me eat. To visit the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, you need to do it first thing in the morning. This is probably the same as other attractions here in Paris be it the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. If you queue up in the afternoon, you would have wasted more of your time in line.

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