Paris, France {Famous Places}

If you like history, culture, eating, shopping, taking pictures... there is so much to do and see in Paris. One of the most famous sites being the Notre Dame Cathedral, which in french means "Our Lady." It was built during the 1000-1200's and is a magnificent work of art complete with gargoyles to watch over it. This is the Cathedral that is known in Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Hugo happened to have lived just blocks away from the church when he was alive. Funnily enough, most of the time I was by the cathedral I kept getting the theme song from the Disney movie stuck in my head. Even to this day you have to be careful walking around this area because they are lots of gypsies nearby.

Being that I studied a little Latin in school, I always enjoy a good Catholic Latin Mass and decided to catch the Sunday service while I was in Paris. What a treat. Apparently they don't have many weekly church attenders because I was able to sit in the 3rd row. It was spectacular.

Here is a photo I took at night when the moon was still low. There were crowds of people hanging out around the Cathedral grounds which was filled with street entertainers. I don't usually travel with a tripod but for this trip I did and it turned out to be a wise choice.

And then here is a reminder from my blog about the Eiffel Tower of what the the gargoyles look like on top of the cathedral. I kept illegally putting my hands over the edge and petting them because they were so cool.

Another one of Paris's most famous tourist sites is the Arch De Triumph. This structure was a little harder to photograph. There were lots of cars speeding around. The Arch is actually a roundabout so it is always busy. I also wanted a photo straight on so I headed out into the middle of the street as fast as I could and quickly snapped a photo before any non forgiving Parisian could run me over. Luckily, it turned out to be one of my favorite photos.

We can't forget Moulin Rouge! Moulin Rouge is a cabaret that has been around since the late 1800's. I REALLY wanted to go here but my brother didn't feel it was a very lady like place for me to go. It costs $100 just to get in so we stood outside watching very rich looking people get out of very nice limos with bouncers going in. Next time, if I go back to Paris again in my life, it will be on my to do list.

On a creepier side of Paris, well I'd like to consider it a more awesome part of the city, they have Catacombs under ground that you can tour. The underneath of Paris is covered in an entire tunnel system, the Catacombs being just a small portion. Some of you may recall Victor Hugo referencing these tunnels as being used in the French Revolutionary war in his book Les Miserables. With Paris being over consumed with dead bodies by the late 1700's the Catacombs were made to solve this issue by digging up all of the remains and placing them in the tunnels. Today these unknown remains seem like a work of art. A special thanks to some person who died a long time ago for letting me touch his or her skull that is shown in this photo.

And lastly, here is a photo from a grave from the cemetery "Pere Lachaise" which is one of the largest and most beautiful cemeteries in all of Paris. It originated in the 1600's and contains rows upon rows of mausoleums and small structures so family members can step inside and pray to their lost love ones. An interesting fact is that when you buy a plot at this site you also by a time limit that your family must renew or you will be dug up when it is up and be moved off site. I believe you can purchase between 10-50 years at a time. But many family members just choose to be added to their relatives graves so it isn't uncommon for a grave to have maybe even a dozen bodies over time added to it. Definitely a place to visit when you go to Paris. I've never seen a cemetery like it. This is one of those cemeteries like out of scarey movies where I wouldn't want to be left there after dark kind of creepy- yet so beautiful during the day light.