Our Blog - Paris (during Ryder Cup week)

We took one day (that we weren't working) and headed up to Paris. We wanted to pick up a few things there, as well as meeting up with a friend who lives there. One of the things that we saw while we were in Paris is a large setup in front of the Hotel de Ville for the Ryder Cup. This was meant to get people interested in golf. Each mini golf hole had a different Paris monument that you had to hit the ball through, like the pyramid at the Louvre for hole #9.

Mind you, we have seen Paris many, many times, since we lived in the city for about 2 1/2 years. But there are a few things that we always like to see when we are back, as well as taking the opportunity to meet up with friends. Here is one of the fountains in Place de la Concorde.

Notre Dame seemed to be cleaner than it was last time we were here! And all of the statues on the front were also in great shape.

Around the choir, they have these lovely sculptures from the 14th century. One one side, they show scenes from the life of Jesus, from childhood to agony (as they said). I took pictures of only a few ... Washing of the Feet, the Flight into Egypt

They also had an interesting display that I don't remember seeing before. This showed the progression from 1163, before the Cathedral was started and there were various churches in use, up to the present day. At the beginning of the 12th century, there were supposedly 3 different sanctuaries here (according to written documents although no remains have been located to confirm this). The cornerstone was laid in 1163 in the presence of Pope Alexander III.

By 1177, the choir of the cathedral was complete except for the high vaults. You can already see a set of flying buttresses. By 1182, the choir was completed including the high vaults

Then in 1208, one of the entrances at the transept with the rose window is now visible, and the framework for the rest of the nave is taking shape. One thing that you can note is that the flying buttresses in the nave (the first 2 that seem complete) are higher than those previously completed around the choir. By 1220, the front is taking shape and the majority of the work is complete with the exception of the upper portion of the towers.

A few years after the completion of the superstructure, some of it was demolished and reworked to enlarge the upper windows. You can see the middle part of the roof missing now. Then 20 years later, everything looks back in order and the two towers have been completed, topping out at 69 meters high, towering over the medieval city. Another 20 years and you can see the central spire and each end of the transept has gotten a bit of an update.

Now we are up to 1300, and while you don't see much happening on the outside, on the inside, there are quite a few things happening. There is a rise of "private mass endowments" and you start seeing chapels being added along the periphery of the choir.

Fast-forward to 1780, and after 400 years or so of inactivity, changes again were coming. The interior, including the choir, got updated in a classical mode with lots of marble. From then until the current time, the majority of changes ended up occurring on the interior, including a restoration in the early 1800's after the Revolution.