Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Paris 2006: Notre Dame

A view from the chimeras gallery near the top of Notre Dame de Paris. The towers were completed in 1245.


Looking down on a few of the many the gargoyles, which are part of the drainage system for the cathedral.


Griffin in front of Stryga, the most famous of the chimeras of Notre Dame. According to the flyter handed out, Stryga is a "transliteration of the Greek word meaning bird of night, vampire or hag."


Cyrus and Griffin posing in front of another chimera


Cyrus and the largest of the bells, "Emmanuel, Ludovic, Marie-Therese" (don't ask me how it got its name), weighing in at 15 tons and dating from the 17th century.


While some might think Paris too chic, Aimee's hat was the envy of many across Paris, as each of our 3 days there was windier than the previous. A week later, upon our return from Blois, and on our last day in France, we spotted almost the exact same hat in a store window, right across from the Louvre!