Paris -- Cathedral of Notre Dame

---

Hurray -- No Rain

I got up and looked out the window, "Hurray -- it's not raining," I said.

The forecast had not been promising and there was a possibility of rain during the day. The sky was very overcast, but rain was not falling and that was an improvement over yesterday.

"It's Sunday," Nancy said, "let's go to Notre Dame."

I agreed. Notre Dame seemed to me to be one of several places a person should visit when they are in Paris. This was our chance ... our first time in Paris ... and possibly the only time we would have an opportunity to visit this famous cathedral.

We were pleased to see that it would be easy to go from our hotel to Notre Dame using the subway. In fact we would not need to make any changes as the sutway station, Cité, was on the same line as our hotel. It was only the 5th stop from our hotel. Thank goodness for buses and subways. They make life easier in big cities. For sure there are no parking worries.

After breakfast we went to our room, put on our winter coats, put two small folding umbrellas in my deep coat pockets and set out for the cathedral. It was no surprise that the subway car was not nearly so full as it had been during rush hour the evening of December 21st. No one had to stand up.

We got off at Cité and made our way out of the station. Now, in which direction should we walk? I pulled the map that I had picked up at the hotel out of my pocket. It did not help very much. Then we saw a board with a map and a "You are here" marked on it. The "You are here" was in French of course. Once we had our bearings we set off. Actually we could have simply watched and followed the crowd.

Notre Dame is a short walk from the subway. I was surprised how small the island is on which it is located. The kickoff of the year-long celebration of the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame was held on December 12th, 2012. During 2013 there will be many special performances to commemorate this special year. In front of the cathedral a massive structure has been built with bleachers for people to sit on during special outdoor performances.

Christmas Sunday Mass

We entered the cathedral and realized a mass was going to begin in a few minutes. People entering the church had a choice of either staying to one side, for tourists, and walking around viewing the windows and other features of this large church, or of going to the middle, finding a seat and attending the mass. The entire middle section was filled with worshipers. Though crowded we found seats together and sat down. As we had entered the middle section we were handed programs for the morning Mass.

My, Bill, Italian is just about zero so basically I understood nothing during the mass. What I did enjoy was having about an hour to look and appreciate the architecture of the cathedral. The older the building the more in awe I am of the architects and builders. I look around and wonder what kind of blue prints they had, how the math was worked out ... after all they didn't even have a four function calculator ... and I realize they were much smarter than many of we moderns give them credit.


Well, he enjoyed the architecture and I, Nancy, enjoyed the worship service. The experience of singing along with the French words that were printed for us, understanding some of the litany as printed, participating in the Eucharist. All these were a wonderful time of prayer and quiet. I note he was trying to read Italian when the program was in French. No wonder he couldn't understand anything. :-)


After the mass we took the tourist route around the sanctuary, taking in the stained glass windows and the architecture. Like other churches and cathedrals we have visited this time of year, they had a nice Christmas nativity scene. This one was hidden from the view of worshipers behind the altar area. It was very elaborate, long and lovely.


We satisfied ourselves looking over the church. By the time we were sated it was time to leave and think about lunch ... well actually past time to think about lunch.

---