Last year on our whirlwind trip to Europe we were fortunate enough to spend some time as tourists in Paris. One of my most favorite stops was to visit Notre-Dame de Paris.
If you are like me you have seen pictures of this magnificent Catholic cathedral over the years and marveled. Seeing it up close and personal in person was beyond inspiring.
I could regale you with all of the facts I have gleaned from books and the internet as to the history of this magnificent structure but I won’t. You can check out all of the facts and figures on many sites including this Wikipedia reference.
What I will tell you is that this French Gothic structure held its groundbreaking in 1163 and was completed in 1345. Just think about that. Pretty incredible that this is still around after all these years. 
Today I want to share some of the photographs that I took outside the cathedral. I will save the inside photographs for another post on another day.
Notre Dame attracts about 13 million visitors each year.
Notre Dame Cathedral is properly called Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris).
One of the world’s most well known books was set mostly in the cathedral.The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo was written to increase appreciation for the building.
In 1804 Napoleon invited Pope Pius VII to come to Paris to crown him emperor in Notre Dame. At the last minute, however, Napoleon seized the crown from the pope’s hands and crowned himself.
The famous twin towers go as high as 69 meters (226 feet) and it have 387 steps.
The South tower is home to Notre Dame’s largest bell, weighs 13 tons (28,000 pounds) and it is known as the Emmanuel Bell.
It was a warehouse at a time. At the end of the 18th Century, it indeed housed many wine barrels of the troops of the Revolutionary Army, which shows how the situation was difficult and threatening for this Cathedral.
Do you feel as if you have been to Paris today? I hope so. It really is a magical place and I have so many pictures and thoughts to share that I have just never written. Bit by bit I will get to it but for now enjoy these photographs from outside that show you just a little bit of what to expect if you should go.
Have you been to see Notre Dame in person? If so leave me a comment about what your favorite part was. All comments this month go to support our Comments for a Cause Corolla Wild Horse Fund.
17 Comments
Leave a commentNo, I’ve never been to Paris, but what an amazing place it must be. I’m still processing 1163…… Wow. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!
I have been fortunate enough to see it a couple of times. What is really impressive is it was ‘handmade’ and a craftsman would spend his whole life working on this one building. And it’s still around. So much better quality than we churn out today.
I was lucky enough to get to Paris once. Notre Dam is so beautiful. Your photos are wonderful.
As you know, I just returned from Paris and Notre Dam was one of the highligts. I just loved it inside and out. Your pictures are fabulous and do it justice. I did keep my eyes out for the hunchback but didn´t spot him. All jokes aside, a service was being held while I was inside which made it even more special.
I have seen Notre Dame in person and climbed to the top for an amazing view of Paris. It was years ago, just after college.
Wow!!! I have never been there, but how fortunate you were to make this trip, and thank you for sharing your photos here. What a magnificent place. What strikes me most is the absolute, finite detail of the statues. How incredible is that? To think how primitive the tools must have been then, heck, even take that into consideration with the ornate structures themselves, really makes me have a deeper appreciation for the time and workmanship used to create such amazing pieces that have stood the test of time. To be surrounded by that much history would simply blow my mind. What craftsmanship! What stories! And to be in the exact spot where so much history had taken place…That’s some heady stuff!
Amazing! I love visiting cathedrals and learning about their history. We went to the Cologne Cathedral and Berlin Cathedrale while we were in Germany and we were amazed.
The son is traveling to Paris this summer. But I have no idea what he plans to see. Thanks for the tour of a remarkable place of art, peace and beauty.
Oh neat! I bet he will have an amazing time. Tell him to send you lots of pictures!
I haven’t been to Paris, but my oldest daughter spent time in France in high school and I remember how much she enjoyed Paris. Thanks to your gorgeous photos, I enjoyed it today too!
Oh how neat that your daughter got to spend time in France. It really is a wonderful place to visit.
I’ve never been to Paris. The photos are lovely!
Thanks. I promise to get around to posting more one of these days.
Whoa… I’ve never been in a building that old before! Look forward to reading more!
It was such an amazing experience. I was so in awe of the “oldness” of it all.
I have never been to Paris but your pictures has brought a little too me. Just lovely. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more.
Thanks, Shirley. I need to get on the stick and get more pictures edited and posted since it has been almost a year since we went. I am just slow!