Notre Dame

I first visited Paris at age 24. It was my first time overseas and I left behind everyone I knew in the world to tour Europe. Paris was my first stop on the continent.

^{In the time before digital cameras.}

A Little Back Story

My most beloved grandmother was half French. Her mother was raised in Paris and had left France to avoid an arranged marriage. She met my great grandfather, a Scotsman in Canada. The two were wed and had three children.

^{Grandma as a little girl.}

My grandmother, born in 1905, was their youngest. She grew up in Portland, Oregon but was raised speaking French. As a young woman she went to France herself to study at the Sorbonne. Thanks to her family and travels, my grandparent’s home was filled with French books and art prints grandma had acquired over the years.

Seeing Paris

All of this is to say, being in France the first time... I felt like I was coming home. If not home, at least to my homeland. Experiencing the sites, sounds and smells of a place generations of my family had once lived was incredibly powerful. On top of that... Paris is one of the most beautiful cities.

The first place I saw in Paris was Notre Dame.

^{View of Notre Dame from across the Seine.}

We were driving towards the city at sunset when I first spotted the cathedral. It was beautiful and imposing. Much bigger than I had expected it to be. Seeing Notre Dame was history come to life. No other place in Europe took my breath away like Notre Dame and my first views of Paris.

^{I bought this drawing from a street artist near the cathedral. 20 years later it hangs in my dining room.}

Seeing the cathedral burn today is heartbreaking.

^Source

It is a bit privileged to mourn a building. Especially when one considers all the terrible things happening every day in this world. But this building has served as the heart of Paris and France for over 850 years!

Think of all people who have prayed here and walked under the building’s towering Gothic architecture. It survived revolution and two world wars... only to burn today in what seems to be a fire related to restoration efforts.This is a huge historical, architectural and artistic loss.

---

In April 2013, I finally made it back to Paris and to Notre Dame. We stayed in a hotel just one block away from the cathedral. This meant we passed it every morning before throngs of tourists filled the area. On our visit we went inside Notre Dame twice. I lit a votive there for my grandma and thought of her while gazing up at the famous rose windows.

^{This is the side of Notre Dame that burned today. Always my favorite angle to view the cathedral.}

^{During World War II the stained glass windows of Notre Dame were removed to protect them from harm.}

^{The news is saying the entirety of the wooden interior has been destroyed.}

^{Carved figures decorate the exterior of Notre Dame.}

2013 was also the 850th anniversary of the cathedral’s construction. At the time we found three commemorative medallions celebrating the milestone. They aren’t silver or gold but I treasure them all the same.

^{Each medallion has the same 850th anniversary image on the reverse seen upper left.}

---

^{Notre Dame was built on the ruins of a Roman temple. The first stone was laid in 1163 and completion of the cathedral took nearly 200 years. Time and civil unrest took their toll on Notre Dame and a major restoration effort took place after the French Revolution.}

^{The building is (was) considered one of the world’s finest examples of Gothic Architecture. The spire was as tall as a football field is long, and the interior could accommodate 6000 worshippers. Approximately 13 million people visit Notre Dame each year.}

---

Proud Member of:

steemsugars, steemusa, teamaustralia and steemsilvergold