Inside Notre Dame Cathedral

One of the places Alex was most excited about visiting in Paris was the Notre Dame Cathedral. She ended up using my 'big' camera, and taking hundreds of photos. It was an amazing visit! We were just disappointed that, when we go into line to climb to the top of the towers, the line closed down for the night! Ugh! And, we had plans on going back later in the week, but we never made it.

It's amazing how Notre Dame towers over you. But, even more amazing, is the view from inside...

Wow! Pictures hardly do this justice. The ceilings are so incredibly tall! And, this was a Sunday morning and they were having a service. We were there over an hour and the service was still going on. The singing was absolutely gorgeous!!! I could have stayed for hours.

We found the Treasury very interesting. The treasury houses relics of various saints and holy people. Relics are items left behind by these people - it can be an actual part of the person (like a bone or some hair) or something used by the person (like a robe or Jesus' cross). The above reliquary has bone fragments from several saints. If I remember correctly, the center relic includes part of a jaw and a tooth of a saint. Notre Dame has 3 (unproven) relics from Jesus - the crown of thorns, a nail from the cross, and a piece of the cross.

There is artwork throughout the cathedral and I believe this painting was in the Treasury also. It's a detail showing Jesus washing the feet of a disciple.

Another view showing the incredibly high ceilings and some of the stained glass windows.

This is a view from the back. There are several thousand people sitting listening to the service. And, there are hundreds of visitors walking around, in silence, observing this amazing cathedral and taking photos. Again, the music was incredible and I wish I would have recorded a little of it.