France - Notre Dame

This is a piece of Gothic architecture that just would not go away despite its many flaws. We might have to thank Victor Hugo a lot for that, after he published his book The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, in 1831, A lot of people apparently came to appreciate the old style architecture. I can’t hear the words 'Notre Dame' without thinking of Quasimodo, the half blind and deaf bellringer of the Cathedral. Like a lot of architecture in the modern world, you can just walk up to it! Like the Coliseum in Rome and the Empire State building in New York City. There was still a fair amount of traffic going in and out of the Cathedral when I was there. For some reason I thought that the inside had been closed off to the public? There is a beautiful garden just outside. You might find a bench to sit down on? And please watch yourself… there are pickpockets all over Paris, and I had hundreds of euros stolen from me right outside the cathedral. If you do happen to visit Paris, Notre Dame is a must-see. The architecture is wonderful as one would expect, but it’s really a nice place to hang around if the weather is decent and it’s a little warm and sunny like it was on the day I was there. The images I took speak for themselves… you will be looking up a lot!