Oct01

Paris Day 3 – Notre Dame, Palais du Luxembourg

For breakfast each day, we walked around the corner to the little bakery where we got our baguette and two croissants. The bread was great, but what we really loved was the Brie Cheese. Pictured below, Angie has the cheese and the French bread. I have not tasted cheese until I tasted it in Paris. We put that cheese on crackers and ate to our hearts’ content. The Brie Cheese was in the fridge when we arrived. Staying at an apartment that was part of a bed and breakfast, we had 3 juices in the fridge, three different jams, cream cheese, and a large wedge of the Brie Cheese. We obtained our bread each day with a coupon.

On Sunday, we got up to go to church. We couldn’t find the LDS chapel that we had mapped out, and so we went to services at Notre Dame. We were planning to go to Notre Dame after the LDS services anyway.

The history of Notre Dame is stunning. From Wikipedia:

Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic cathedral on the eastern half of the ÃŽle de la CitÃ© in Paris, France, with its main entrance to the west. It is the cathedral of Paris and the seat of the Archbishop of that city. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. It was restored and saved from destruction by Viollet-le-Duc, one of France’s most famous architects. The name Notre Dame means “Our Lady” in French. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, giving them a more secular look that was lacking from earlier Romanesque architecture.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress [arched exterior supports]. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral’s architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued as such.

The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.

In 1160, because the church in Paris had become the “parish church of the kings of Europe”, Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the current Parisian cathedral unworthy of its lofty role, and had it demolished shortly after he assumed the title of Bishop of Paris. According to legend, de Sully had a vision of a glorious new cathedral for Paris, and sketched it in the dirt outside of the original church. To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built in order to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral.

Construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, and opinion differs as to whether Maurice de Sully or Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. However, both were at the ceremony in question. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life and wealth to the cathedral’s construction.

Construction of the west front, with its distinctive two towers, began circa 1200, before the nave had been completed, contrary to normal construction practice. Over the construction period, numerous architects worked on the site, as is evidenced by the differing styles at different heights of the west front and towers. Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls beneath the towers. The towers were completed around 1245, and the cathedral was completed around 1345.

Significant events at Notre Dame

1185 â€” Heraclius of Caesarea calls for the Third Crusade from the still-incomplete cathedral.

1239 â€” The Crown of Thorns is placed in the cathedral by St. Louis during the construction of Sainte-Chapelle.

1302 â€” Philip the Fair opens the first States-General.

December 16, 1431 â€” Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.

1450 â€” Wolves of Paris trapped and are killed on the steps of the Cathedral.

November 7, 1455 â€” Isabelle RomÃ©e, the mother of Joan of Arc, petitions a papal delegation to overturn her daughter’s conviction for heresy.

April 24, 1558 â€” Mary I of Scotland is married to the Dauphin FranÃ§ois (later FranÃ§ois II of France), son of Henry II of France.

August 18, 1572 â€” Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France) marries Marguerite de Valois.

September 10, 1573 â€” Henri de Valois took an oath in Notre Dame Cathedral to respect traditional liberties and the law on religious freedom that had been passed during the interregnum in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He agreed to two documents, the Henrician articles and the pacta conventa (sworn articles). In them, the king recognized the principle of free election and abandoned all succession claims.[1]

December 2, 1804 â€” the coronation ceremony of NapolÃ©on I and his wife JosÃ©phine, with Pope Pius VII officiating.

1909 â€” Joan of Arc is beatified.

May 16, 1920 â€” Joan of Arc is canonized.

June 2, 1937 â€” Louis Vierne is appointed Organist of Notre-Dame de Paris after a heavy competition (with judges including Charles-Marie Widor) against the 500 most talented organ players of the era. He dies at the cathedral organ (as was his life-long wish) as he is nearing the end of his final concert held at Notre Dame.

August 26, 1944 â€” The Te Deum Mass takes place in the cathedral to celebrate the liberation of Paris. (According to some accounts the Mass was interrupted by sniper fire from both the internal and external galleries.)

November 12, 1970 â€” The Requiem Mass of General Charles de Gaulle is held.

May 31, 1980 â€” After the Magnificat of this day, Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass on the parvis in front of the cathedral.

January 1996â€”The Requiem Mass of FranÃ§ois Mitterrand is held.

August 10, 2007 â€” The Requiem Mass of Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, archbishop emeritus of Paris, is held.

During the early 19th century, the cathedral was in a state of disrepair, and city planners began to contemplate tearing it down. French novelist Victor Hugo, an admirer of the cathedral, wrote his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame (titled in French Notre Dame de Paris) in part to raise awareness of the cathedral’s heritage, which sparked renewed interest in the cathedral’s fate. A campaign to collect funds to save the cathedral followed, culminating in the 1845 restorations. (Source: Notre Dame de Paris. (2008, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:13, September 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Notre_Dame_de_Paris&oldid=240874905)

We crossed the bridge over the River Seine and entered the park at the back of the cathedral. This was the first place that I could access the Internet, so pictured below, I’m using my iPod to send emails telling family that we made it. The park was beautiful, and there were artists selling their paintings.

In the main courtyard of the church stood a large statue of Charlemagne. I knew Charlemagne was crown emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and thought that he lived in Italy. After reading a bit from his history, I see why there was interest in Charlemagne in France. My family line descends from Charlemagne.

From Wikipedia:

Charlemagne (pronounced /ËˆÊƒÉ‘rlÉ¨meÉªn/; Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great) (747 â€“ 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 as a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of France, Germany, and the Holy Roman Empire.

The son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, he succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman I. The latter got on badly with Charlemagne, but war was prevented by the sudden death of Carloman in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and waging war on the Saracens, who menaced his realm from Spain. It was during one of these campaigns that Charlemagne experienced the worst defeat of his life, at Roncesvalles (778). He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By forcibly converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian dynasty.

Today he is regarded not only as the founding father of both French and German monarchies, but also as the father of Europe: his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, and the Carolingian renaissance encouraged the formation of a common European identity. (Source: Charlemagne. (2008, September 27). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:41, September 28, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlemagne&oldid=241356719)

The Statue of Charlemagne in the courtyard of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

We waited in quite a line to climb the stairs to the top of Notre Dame. There was no charge on the day we were there which is maybe one reason the line was long. They also didn’t let more than a handful of people go up at a time.

The woman pictured above came to look at the street while we waited in line to go into the towers of the cathedral. From the first lookout of Notre Dame (Below).

I’d probably be like that (pictured above) too if I’d have to sit on the top of the tower for 800 + years.

Pictured below is the view of the Sacre Coeur Church and the Montmartre hill where we were staying. We stayed on the other side of the hill behind the basilica.

The bell was huge! You could stand up inside the bell and not hit your head. Above, Angie is pictured in the doorway to the bells.

The very top of the tower was caged to prevent mischief.

The stairs were very hard to go up and down with two-way traffic. We went halfway up one tower, and then walked across to the gift shop. The gift shop had an interesting family tree of the royal families that ruled France. The shop also had a large banner showing a picture of the room where Quasimodo hid Esmeralda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. We then walked over and up the stairs to the top. The stairs were very narrow. You can see from the picture how well they were worn after eight hundred years.

We read from the Hunchback of Notre Dame in the shadows of the Cathedral.

We visited the Luxembourg gardens, and they were absolutely beautiful. ”Stunning” is perhaps a better term for how large and beautiful the spacious garden was. Statues were found throughout the park, large grassy areas, and small, almost private walkways. It was in one of these walkways in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables that Jean Valjean meets Marius and Cosette. Marius came across Jean Valjean and Cosette while they were sitting on a bench, so we read from Les Miserables there.

The Luxembourg park had a fountain where kids pushed small sail boats. Although there were lots of people there, the gardens didn’t feel crowded. There was plenty of space for solitude if one required it.

Statues of the Queens of France lined one of the walkways.

The Eiffel Tour was still visible from certain portions of the park.

Notice how the trees are cut like boxes. We saw that style in many parks.

We took our picture by the original Lady Liberty. We hauled the camera stand along with us all day and wanted to take this shot, but right as we were getting set up, the police started to whistle throughout the park signaling that the park was closing. I hurried and ran in by Angie and we took the picture, packed up, and left.

Below is a Mini car used by the Police. My dream car, believe it or not is a Mini Cooper. There was a show in one of the little squares of old/unique police vehicles. The show hid the metro station that we had a hard time finding. We had to come from our apartment and exit at the station to find out where it was.

The map of the city we picked up for free at the airport had the metro stations, but they weren’t exactly exact if you catch my meaning.

After Luxembourg, we went back to Notre Dame at night. We saw some roller bladders there (and funny enough) when we watched Ratatoullie, we saw the main characters rollerblading in the exact same spot.

The pictures below show the difference with the same shot location using the flash and not using the flash. Not using the flash makes a much better picture at night.