Paris - Day 2, Notre Dame

Day 2 in Paris didn't have the best start. We had set our alarm to wake us at 7:30 so that we could get an early start to the day. At 9:00 a.m. Shad and I wake up to loud pounding on our hotel room door. It turns out that even though Shad had switched the time on his watch to Paris time (it holds two different time zones), he had not "told" the alarm to recognize the Paris time. You've never seen two people get ready so quickly! We didn't want to waste a single second in Paris.

After grabbing some croissants for breakfast at the neighborhood boulangerie, we headed off to Notre Dame Cathedral.

We crossed the famous Pont Neuf - the oldest surviving bridge in Paris - to get to the Ile de la Cite (that e should have an accent over it, but I don't know how to do that). The island is pronounced Eel de la See-tay. It was the birthplace of Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Looking up at the ceiling inside

One of the famous Rose Windows

Shad being watched over by some saints 

at the entryway to the cathedral

We stood in line for 15 minutes (it was freezing!!!) 

to be able to get a gargoyle's view of Paris.

We climbed 400 stairs to reach the top. After the 668 stairs we climbed the day before at the Eiffel Tower (really it was 1,336 since we also had to climb down), we were pretty tired of stairs!!!

Me, my sister (in the brown coat), and Shad (in the red coat) admiring the amazing view

The golden domed building is where Napoleon is buried

We climbed the bell tower to see one of the famous bells Quasimodo might have rang. Each of the bells at Notre Dame has a name, but I can't remember its name or find it online.

(Julie remembered - the bell's name is Emmanuel.)

My brother-in-law Chris

The gargoyles that scared away evil spirits 

and acted as waterspouts in the rain

Looking down on the flying buttresses

Here kitty, kitty - it's lunch time!

Another view of the flying buttresses

Another amazing site I never thought I'd get to see in person. It was like I was in a dream. It didn't feel like I was really there (except for when my calves were burning from climbing those 400 stairs - and then having to climb back down them - that felt real).