In the previous post, I mentioned that I hadn't put up pics of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! So here's an interruption of the Dijon series...since I'm really keen to share my Notre Dame Cathedral pictures!
I first learnt about the Notre Dame Cathedral through the famous Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. As I went through high school and got involved in photography, I got fascinated with architecture as well...and this lovely cathedral was featured in detail, in one of the books I bought. And so I told myself that I had to visit it no matter what! I had been visiting old cathedrals around Australia (St Patrick's Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, for example), and also ventured into some when I went to Austria and Germany last year. The visit to Notre Dame Cathedral, however, was uniquely different from the other visits I made. Simply because it was a dream come true!
Since the lighting was working in my favour that day, I decided to take some pics of the exterior, while queueing in to enter the cathedral. Yep - we had to queue; the cathedral was very popular, needless to say.
Up till now, I'm still mind-blown by all these intricate details! Especially the ones on the arches...gosh! So much work put into it...considering that the cathedral was completed in 1345...and that each sculpture had to be done individually. Another interesting fact - the cathedral was one of the first cathedrals to use the "flying buttress" concept - something which is seen at the back of the cathedral.
Finally it was time to enter the cathedral! By then, I had so many pictures of the outside...
Some of the trademark artefacts in the cathedral itself - when we first entered. These included candles and carvings. Some people had guided tours of the cathedral - we chose to do the tour ourselves and read up on the details later.
Check out these stained glass windows! Up till now I'm still very fascinated by them! Look at the details and all!
Wandered around the back of the cathedral, and along the way we spotted a mini-replica of the cathedral! In this area, we had to keep silent and refrain from talking, as it was supposed to be a very peaceful and sacred place for prayers.
The famous pipe organ on top of the cathedral. This pipe organ has over 7000 pipes, and is pretty impressive! Apparently it's been restored a number of times, but is still fully functional.
And then I started taking pics of the nave - or the main part of the cathedral. Occasionally there would be an announcement reminding people to remain quiet (or whisper). After all, the cathedral's meant to be a sacred place for people to reappraise, experience peace and quiet...and pray. Check out the gorgeous lights! And the perfect arches...gosh!
Right at the end of the nave - I spotted this prominent cross...and when I moved my camera upwards, I also spotted some details on the ceiling. The cathedral itself was really dark (I reckon this was to preserve the interior and the artefacts)...so adjusting the settings on my camera took some time. Managed to get it worked out in the end!
Small open area at the back of the cathedral. You can roughly see the flying buttress supports on the back facade of the cathedral.
After visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral, we decided to take a stroll around its surroundings. This time, we took a long time trying to find a place for lunch. Mainly because the places we went to were full and we didn't want to fight with the crowds. But along the way, I managed to take some pics of the cafes along the streets. They looked so classy!
We finally settled in a small restaurant near the cathedral itself (yes we had to go one big round!), and I had pretty good pasta! Plus the mandatory hot chocolate.
Some of the smaller shops and eateries along the way, including a historical library (which I wanted to go into but couldn't due to time constraints).
By lunchtime, street artists along the Seine were opening their stalls, and selling their artwork to tourists. Most of the stalls were jam-packed with original works of art...and at the end of the day, the artwork will be stored in sturdy containers that folded back down.
I got really excited when I saw this. One day I really have to see a piano recital in Europe!!
Along the way, we passed Rene Descartes University. The University was established in 1971 (shortly after establishment of the Sorbonne University). Needless to say, one of the courses offered in the Rene Descartes University is psychology. :) Rene Descartes himself coined the term "cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am), and my psychology lecturers seem to like this line very much.
Imagine graduating from Rene Descartes University with a degree in psychology...now that would be so cool!
I actually don't know if the words literally mean "photocopying centre for thesis", but I still have my own take to it anyway :)
Couldn't resist taking a pic of this along the way. After all, this is part of my identity...and my future profession. I hope to work with musicians with performance anxiety someday - that would be really fulfilling for me considering that my current research centres around music and adjunct psychological interventions! Of course, I'd have turn off the "music critique" side of me when working with musicians - if not I'd scare the majority of my future clients away!
As a last stop, we wandered into the Sorbonne University precinct. This beautiful building here is part of the main campus. There were some restaurants and a library around it. Look at the exterior! I can imagine how grand it must have been inside. I was actually surprised that the university was established in the 1970s...it looks like it has got such a rich history!
And we'll resume the Dijon series again in the next post!