3rd Post on Paris - The City of Love - Fountaine St.Michel and Notre Dame
Sunday, May 29, 2011 //
0 comment(s)
So my third post on Paris will be on Notre Dame.
Also known to the French as "Our Lady of Paris"
Prior to reaching Notre Dame, we were just walking around streets and snapping pictures randomly.
And I love how almost, each and every memorable monuments are "almost" close to one another.
By "almost" I meant by some, not all. Some requires longer walks and you'll need to take other transportation.
I especially love the designs of their cafes, often in a classic old building, with outdoor patio where one can just sit, chill and relax while taking a break from the hustle and bustle life of the busy city.
Motorcycles are everywhere, which is why traffic jam is not an issue in Paris. Transportations there are so efficient, and they also have public bicycles for rent. Pictures will be in the next post :)
Then, at the heart of Quartier Latin, the Place-St. Michel is a famous Paris landmark that you'll see. There is a fountain ( Fontaine Saint Michel ) in the center of the square and it was created by a French sculptor , Gabriel Davioud back in 1860. This landmark basically represents Saint Micheal, the protector of France slaying a dragon.
Originally, the fountain central's statue supposed to be of Napoleon Bonaparte but it received criticism from some of the opponents thus it was then changed to the image of St.Micheal.
Walking across the road by the bridges and overlooking the river of Seine, is the Notre Dame.
Speed boats can be seen along the river.
As we reached the outside of Notre Dame, within sight you're able to see this shop and also a beautiful garden before entering the Catholic gothic church.
Notre Dame is famous for it's finest French Gothic architecture and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with the earlier Roman architecture. It was completed back in 1345.
Visitors are allowed to enter the church for free and the view inside is amazingly breathtaking. As a catholic myself, upon entering I was so amazed and fascinated by the church it got me carried away. I mean for us back here, the churches are just normal building with less architectural details been put unto it , the most you can get is just the glass windows and probably the altar that has a similar touch to the churches in France but other than that, the building architectural is nothing compared to churches in France.
This is actually a candle holder, antique ones and it looked like some sort of decoration thing. Well at least that was what I first thought when I saw it.
A mini size figurine of the church on display.
There were also a lot of different small prayer rooms inside the churches, surrounding the main altar. Each and every prayer room is for different Saints, Mother Mary, Jesus and the father himself. There were at least 10 of them each with their own chairs and altars for praying.
Anyone is free to buy a candle as donation to the church and you can light it up for your personal prayers.
Jesus Christ.
The side view of the main altar.
The main altar.
And you can also purchase souvenirs inside the church. Just walk towards the left upon entering the church. There is a special souvenir that I've collected when I was there and few other places whereby one can only get it from the place itself when you visit it. Picture on this will be shown next time :)
This church is located at 6 Parvis Notre-Dame, Place Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris, France.
Well if you would like to know more about this church and more of it's specialties , you can view this website : NotreDameParis
Labels: Fountain St Michel, France, Holidays, Notre Dame, Paris, Places to Visit, Travel
