Notre Dame.

It was a gloomy Sunday when we visited Notre Dame but that did not stop the crowds from coming out in full.

In 52 BC a small Gallic tribe of the Parisii people lived on this tiny island on the Seine, perhaps seeking refuge from Julius Caeser or resting as they crossed the river. It was from these people that Paris claimed its name and the community of Ile de la Cité was born. The island in the centre of Paris is connected by many ornate bridges and the eastern end houses the gothic Notre Dame Cathedral.

Bishop Maurice de Sully decided in 1160 that Paris should have a cathedral worthy of the powerful principal city of France. In 1163 the first stone was set in place by Pope Alexander III and King Louis VII. It was not completed until 1272. For more than a century thousands of men and women worked on the 'state of the art' structure. This new form of architecture was called 'Gothic' and it allowed buildings to be taller and open on the inside. To showcase the 35 metre high walls three large rose windows of multi-coloured glass petals were placed high above the nave to allow light and changing colour into the church. They are as impressive today as in 1270 when King Louis IX would have seen them. The building of such an immense structure presented many problems and it was at this time the invention of the wheelbarrow and variations on the pulley were invented.

Notre Dame is a Catholic Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is open to the public
- free of charge- as all churches should be. Not like the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland that had the audacity to charge £8 per person just because it is in the Da Vinci Code - Wasn't happy with that one!!

The next day was the Pentecost Public Holiday in France. Everything was closed so we looked once again to God to show us more of Paris and we headed for the grandiose Sacré-Coeur built atop Montmartre and dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ.  We walked in on mass held in Latin and sat for a part of the service but it was difficult to follow and so we joined the silent procession of visitors along the carpeted path around the church.

Under the silver statue of Mary we lit candles and said our prayers. Further along, we saw the silver statue of Jesus and crowds of people reaching to touch his feet.  One lady with long wild hair stopped to touch the foot of the statue of Jesus and brushed against the flaming tower of candles. Her whole mop of hair caught alight and flames leapt above her like a flaming halo. People were screaming and just as quick a man smothered the flames with his prayer book. Smoke and the smell of burning hair covered the little alcove we were in. The lady with the singed hair must have been on a very deep spiritual level as she was the only one unaware of what had happened and everyone slipped back into silent prayer.


Angels at Sacre Coeur

From Mont Martre we walked down to find the Moulin Rouge. (I guess that was enough religion for one week for Paul.) It wasn’t hard to spot the distinctive red windmill and the girls and I stopped for a quick little cancan on top of a Metro air vent. If only my girls wore dresses, we could have got the Marilyn Munro shot. Paul ducked over to see if we could get tickets for that nights show but just as we had found out all week the show was fully booked for weeks in advance. The walk along the strip was quite revealing and led to a whole evening of questions from Madison about birds, bees, feathers and red lights.

ReligiousLee