Day Two in Paris

Although we were all pretty tired, we really wanted to get as much of Paris into our day as possible. We got up bright and early to head into town. I had a massive list of things I wanted to see and do during our time here; enough people wanted to do the same things, so it all worked out! 

One of the big things I wanted to see was a cemetery. Ideally, we would have gone to the Paris catacombs but we heard that they lines take hours to get through and it cost over 20 euro (I should have covered this early, but one euro is 1.17 USD) so we went to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. 

Pere Lachaise Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Because of that, we saw some pretty creepy things. Laura and I were particularly excited to go because a member of our study abroad group, Camille, loves all things spooky and creepy (particularly, crypts, catacombs, and cemeteries). Obviously we had to and take pictures for her!

After the cemetery, we headed over to see the Cathedral of Notre Dame. This is a remarkable cathedral which stands as a perfect example of French Gothic architecture. The webbing of flying buttresses permitted the colossal height of the building. It has faced some reconstruction and restoration during its lifetime. 

During the French Revolution, there was a frustration regarding the monarchy (which makes total sense when you consider the fact that the French king squandered all the money in the city) which resulted in a massive riot. People tore down the sculptures of apostles and saints which stood on the cathedral because they thought they were images of the historic French kings.

On April 15, 2019, a fire broke out at the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was an absolutely devastating and catastrophic event. The spire, the upper walls, and the roof were either destroyed or severely damaged. Fortunately, many of the treasured artworks and relics were moved to safety in time. The rose window, which threatened to explode due to the heat of the fire, did not suffer any damage. There have been donations exceeding 1 billion euro to go into the restoration work of the cathedral. With restoration and reconstruction underway (and will take decades to complete), we were not able to go inside. 

I remember when the cathedral caught fire. I was at work, checking the news. I thought it was a prank but it wasn't April 1st. The danger of this kind of building catching fire is the fact that it could implode on itself because of the heat. There was no telling at the time what was going to happen. This piece of architecture represents an incredible period of invention and creativity. It represents a France that was once religious rather than secular. It has become a piece of world history. 

When I saw the cathedral in person, I thought of the words from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame:

I ask for nothing; I can get by, but I know so many less lucky than I. 

This cathedral is so widely known that it didn't take a second thought in order to raise the money needed to restore this historic building. There are other churches and important monuments being destroyed out of hate, fear, and supremacy which have been silenced. Seeing this building burn has inspired me to learn more about what else is going on in the world. In order to speak for something, you have to know it's there. 

Next on our to-do list was to see the stained glass windows of Sainte Chapelle. This building is one of the incredible inventions to come from the Gothic period. With the use of flying buttresses, building can exist with floor to ceiling stained glass windows. 

Next we checked out the Luxembourg Gardens. They were just massive!

Most of Paris' architecture looks just like this.

The next building we checked out was the Paris Pantheon. It was built after the one in Rome; however, it is a secular building rather than a religious one. It houses the tombs and final resting places for many notable people such as Victor Hugo and Marie Curie.

One of the people with a monument here is Voltaire, a famous philosopher.

We ran across the famous Pomidou Centre Museum and on the way up to the entrance, we found this beautiful view.

 This museum is known for is modern/contemporary art collection. I got to see Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, which is really just a urinal on its side. It's kind of dumb but I'm a classicist so I would have that opinion.

Sierra and I rented scooters and headed over to see Basilica of Sacre Coeur. On our way up there, I ran into Bre, the girl with blue hair who visited us during the last week of the study abroad. She and I graded papers together and I've known her for a few years. It was so fun to see her. Together in Paris!

The last thing we did, was check out the famous Moulin Rouge! We just walked to see the outside since the inside was not the place I wanted to see. The walk to get here was kind of spooky with all these spicy time shops. As it got darker, I RAN to get out of there! It was not the place for me.