Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral
La Préfecture de Police – Paris – 2008
We crossed the Seine for the first time as the clouds broke up. To our right was the police department above. To our left was the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame.
A huge line of people stood, ready to enter, before the imposing church. The line brought back memories of entering Saint Mark’s in Venice, Italy.
The interior was huge, yet still packed with people. Notre Dame is very creepy both inside and out. The gothic architecture is right out of the Medieval, Dark Ages. You could also say it is inspiring to any developer of modern haunted houses or Addams Family or Munsters’ sets.
At night Notre Dame looks great (and eerie) too.
Hundreds of gargoyles grace the exterior of Notre Dame. Some are mostly worn away making them even spookier looking.
The best view, in my opinion, is from the back. From there you can see the flying buttresses which were necessary to support the extremely high ceilings. When the clouds cooperate, as they did on the day we were there, the scene is amazing.
There is a park on the rear side of the cathedral that my kids enjoyed as I took pictures. They liked playing on the unique equipment that they had never seen in the U.S. or Scandinavia.