This was my third visit to Notre Dame, and I have never seen so many people. On Sunday afternoon, we looked at the line circling the square out front and gave up. We returned about 10:00 AM on Monday morning, the line was long, but moving well. And well worth the wait. The interior has not been this clean and bright in hundreds of years. It is simply breathtaking inside. I was first there in January of 1991. Bush had started a war with Iraq a week before, I lit a candle for world peace, and here I am 35 years later, with another senseless war, another candle seeking world peace.
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| This scanned photo is from Christmas Ever 2004, note how much brighter the stone work is |
It takes your breath away. Sunday afternoons, in those heavily touristed spots, a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteRome and Paris were both very busy.
DeleteIn Paris, we caught the end of a 4-day weekend, Ascension Thursday thru Sunday.
DeleteIt was a crowded weekend, and great fun.
DeleteIf you didn't know about the fire, this Notre Dame looks like a Disney version, so clean and perfect.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's an absolutely gorgeous building and I'm so glad they were able to restore it.
And so fast.
DeleteAs if brand new and not experienced centuries of use, but after the fire, how could it be otherwise. Whatever, a stunning interior.
ReplyDeleteIt will age with grace for a few hundred more years.
DeleteWow, the difference between your photos and my photos from before the fire are amazing. Also, the crowds of people are unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteMy before, are pre-digital, I only found the one that had been scanned. It is night and day different inside.
DeleteWe were in Paris in 2019, six months after the fire burned Notre Dame. Blockades and fencing surrounded it and the burned wood smell was still there. I lit a candle for world peace at St. Patrick's while in New York. Flickers of hope.
ReplyDeleteI joked that I needed more euro coins for candles on this trip.
DeleteConsidering the size and the damage, it's nothing short of a miracle that it is open already. When you think about the restoration process and clean up and how time consuming it is....and yet here it is! Magnificent!
ReplyDeleteBTW, who is that devastatingly handsome guy taking a pic behind you?
ReplyDelete