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12 In Paris/ Travel

Paris: Gargoyles of Notre Dame

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Who has the best views in all of Paris? I’d have to say it’s the gargoyles perched at the top of Notre Dame. I had been keen on seeing the gargoyles and hearing the bells of Notre Dame, but I hadn’t known that the Notre Dame had such a fantastic view of the city. It wasn’t as high up as the Montparnasse Tower by any means, but it was a much more intimate view as you could see the small shops and the people walking around in the city.

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You also get a unique view of the architecture of the cathedral, such as the spire or the bell tower. It was a pretty amazing experience listening to the bells ring while I was standing nearby! In my excitement I took a video to record the sound, but the video was all over the place and in vertical format. I seem to forget to take video in landscape mode whenever it comes to towers. Still, I was happy that I recorded a small clip of that amazing moment when I was so excited to hear the bells and almost feel the vibrations of the sounds ringing through the air.

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There was a rather strange assortment of gargoyles, birds, and chimeras up on the tower. Most of them looked as though they were looking down at the city, but there was one that was happily munching away on dinner. It seems strange to me that they wanted to use gargoyles as a topper for this beautiful building. Wouldn’t it make more sense if they had angels perched along the top of the cathedral? After all, there are a great deal of winged statues in Paris. It makes me wonder why they decided to use rough, grotesque animals instead of the smooth graceful figures that seem to be everywhere else in Paris.

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The Eiffel was a bit further away as you can see in the second photo of this post, but if you zoom in it makes for a lovely photo of the city. So after you walk out of the Notre Dame, make a beeline to the right side of the building (left if you are facing the building) and get in line to go up the tower to see the gargoyles and some excellent views!

Your turn ♥ Do you know any other spots with good views of Paris? What do you think about the gargoyles?

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