If you stop to notice, Notre Dame really has an effect on you. It is somewhere between humbling and intimidating. Parts of the cathedral are heart-soaringly beautiful while other parts are severely beautiful. And so I paused, that sense of being watched tingling the back of my neck. And then I looked up and noticed the gargoyles peering down at me. I could not figure out if their interest was acute or passive, because who was I but just another person of the millions that has walked under their gaze over the last couple of centuries.

Like an ancient day and I'm on trial
Let them seize the way, this once was an island
And I could not stay for I believed them
Left for the lights always in season

Impassable night in a crowd of homesick
Fully grown children, you'll leave the lights
Your family may not wait, Sir, keep on believing
Our parents rue the day, they find us kneeling
Let them think what they may, for they've good reason
Left for the lights always in season

The Penalty by Beirut

Tags:   Notre Dame France Paris film Hasselblad square looking up church cathedral historical gaze stern foreboding Blue Moon Camera

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The front of the famous Notre Dame cathedral with the two bell towers featured prominently. After the Eiffel Tower, I think Notre Dame was the feature that was second highest on my list of places to see. It is interesting to note, because I enjoy cathedrals quite a bit even though I am not terribly religious (or at least the type of religious that takes me inside churches too often). But it is impossible to stand inside somewhere like Notre Dame and not be moved. I experienced the same reaction inside St. Peter's in Vatican City. On that trip we had only planned a half day in Vatican City because of a lack of pre-existing interest, but after that half day we canceled a planned trip to Siena so as to go back to Vatican City for a full day (Ah how I want to go back to Italy).

Anyway, back to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was quite an experience. I should also mention it was the worst experience I had in Paris too. It had nothing to do with the cathedral itself, but rather the crowds. Given that it was November and tourism was very, very light, there was still quite a crowd inside. Despite numerous signs in a variety of languages that asked for silence and an equal number of signs asking for no flash photography, a frustrating and dismayingly high percentage of the crowd milling inside were talking in voices well above hushed and using flashes where ever they felt the need, including directly in front of the signs asking for no flash. Now, there is a stereotype about Parisians as being snooty and stand-offish, even to the point of rudeness (mind you, I encountered none of this attitude, quite the opposite). But standing inside a place of such historical, cultural and religious importance and watching people yammer around treating it like it is their next refrigerator magnet instead of showing even an ounce of respect, and then realizing that it is the slow season. So this not only happens all year round, but likely at much greater levels and yeah, I can see how Parisians might get a bit tired of tourists and their nonchalant disrespect. I felt ashamed to be a tourist myself and in anyway associated with the behavior I saw inside.

Going back to Vatican City, I remember it was the same way in the Sistine Chapel, where the signs didn't just ask for quiet, but silence. And you stood packed in this crowd and you could hear a slow murmur build to a quiet rumble build to a rolling chatter. And then a Vatican employee would walk across the front of the room and loudly go "Shhhhhhh" at which point the room would fall silent for about 45 seconds and then the slow murmur would start again and the cycle would repeat. I don't know what it is that we cannot just stand quietly and marvel at something.

I only made one photo inside Notre Dame and even that felt awkward in a way. All I wanted to do was sit and look up, such is the power of the place.

So my tips for travelers heading over. If you go to Notre Dame, be heedful of the sacred nature of the place you are standing, mind the signs asking for quiet and by all means, turn off your flash. It slowly damages the interior artwork not to mention any respect from the locals.

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And the backside of Notre Dame showing off the famed flying buttresses. It amazed how different this cathedral looked from front to back. The front is a boxy, very stoic and stolid looking structure and the back stretches gracefully up from the earth, as if reaching for the heavens it was built under. Plus this park was absolutely beautiful. A rare sunny day lit up the fall colors wonderfully and despite the limited time I had in Paris, all I wanted to do again was sit on a bench and listen to the wind and light filter through the leaves. And I wasn't the only one apparently. ;-)

Oh, and I have a pinhole version of this shot too. Care to see it?

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And the pinhole version of the previous photo. This was such a wonderful fall day that one photo with one camera was simply not enough. I did have to reposition slightly as I needed to use the fence as a base for my pinhole (I mostly traveled during the day without a tripod opting instead to find my own flat surfaces or sometimes carrying a small Gorillapod with me).

It is an interesting mix of thoughts and emotions to be standing outside Notre Dame on such a fine, sunny day. On one hand I just wanted to superficially enjoy the pleasant weather, to stretch out with a book and read a while. On the other hand I wanted to look and marvel and wonder about all the history around me. Both those things combine to make a potent formula, in a very good way. And I did sit, for some time, in the sun and under these trees to the left both simply enjoying and marveling in equal parts. Sometimes at the same time. :-p If I lived in Paris, I think this would be a place I returned to over and over again. A quiet and beautiful little corner of the city.

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Not a photo of Notre Dame, at least not explicitly, but a photo at Notre Dame, or rather the small park tucked behind it. Spent about an hour here just enjoying the day. Funny thing is I might have missed this spot altogether except for a lesson I have learned over the years as a photographer. I spotted this park from atop Notre Dame. Whenever I am given the opportunity to enjoy a particularly splendid high vantage point, I make an effort to not just enjoy the view but also to get a lay of the land, so to speak. And so it was, standing on top of the bell tower of Notre Dame I spotted these nice rows of trees and this small square of green and yellow behind the church. So I guess, what I am saying is that it is important to not just enjoy the view, but also to use the view to see what else is out there to find.

And this is one of the few photos I made of real Parisians. ;-) I felt a bit self-conscious about photographing people on the street, mostly because I know that so many photographers come to Paris to do street photography and there has been a mild swelling of what....irritation, resistance, backlash against this. Which I can empathize with. So I tried not to go too crazy running around photographing people. But these two women made too nice of a photo to let go. So I indulged in one or two candids while enjoying the park.

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