Notre Dame

I have been to Paris three times and visited Notre Dame Cathedral each time.  The immense cathedral is the heart of Paris, sitting on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine*.  My claim on this beautiful church is no more special than the millions of others awed by its massive presence.  When walking into Notre Dame you are dumb struck by the sheer scale of the church, and by its serenity, even when full of tourists.  The noise of Paris evaporates inside the stone cavern.  Built more than 800 years ago in the midst of the middle ages, Notre Dame was not just a symbol of the magnificence of God, but must must have intimidated all who saw it, from peasants to fervent believers.  It still intimidates and inspires today.

My favorite parts of Notre Dame are the huge, beautiful stained-glass Roses, one each over the church's three main entrances, and the protective gargoyles keeping evil from the church.  Once I got over the size of Notre Dame, I would just stare at the Roses and all the light rippling through the different colored glass.  I did not try to read the Biblical story on each Rose, preferring to enjoy their awe instead.  I took pictures, but no picture can capture the true beauty of the Roses on sunny day, and the picture below of the South Rose proves my point.

I did not know that Notre Dame's gargoyle statues represented good until I first visited the Cathedral. Gargoyles are hideous looking, but are symbols of protection and are located outside Notre Dame, on its walls, its roofs, and in its corners, to ward off evil.  Gargoyles as a symbol of goodness is one reason I like Stone Brewing's use of gargoyles.  I now find gargoyle statues comforting, like Stone beer.

I don't know the full fate of Notre Dame's Roses after yesterday's fire, but the North and South Roses are near the spire that collapsed, and where the fire raged.  I read this morning that the Roses survived the fires, but suffered some damage.  I want to think the gargoyles' presence provided the Roses some safety. 

I know this is an off target post, but any visitor to Paris can appreciate the majesty of Notre Dame, whether Catholic or not.  It's a cold soul that walks away from Notre Dame without a lasting impression.  I think this is why the story of yesterday's horrible fire at Notre Dame has produced such a world wide reaction of sadness.

*The following is from 1953's Notre Dame of Paris, by Allan Temko, and give a sense of Norte-Dame's importance to France:

"Notre Dame, more than the Louvre, incalculably more than Versailles, is France.  Every distance from Paris to the borders of the nation is measured from the parvis of the Cathedral and not, significantly, from the Opera or the Arc de Triomphe, or even from the second most important monument in the city, the Tour Eiffel, the earliest tower of steel.  Every road in France centers inwardly on the Cathedral.  One may start walking to Notre Dame on the green roads of Normandy or in sun-driven Provence."