Day 6 : Cathedral de Notre Dame

Taking the Hop On Hop Off bus, I was excited to go see another famous landmark in Paris. A place, which without the conservation efforts of Victor Hugo... would have not survived the public eye at all.

There she is... situated on the petite island that lays in the Seine River
The Notre Dame Cathedral

And guess what? It was a beautiful WARM spring day...

so warm, I actually got a bit sunburned!

This cathedral was the heart of Paris city at one point in history.

There is a marker just nearby the main cathedral door, which says "Point Zero"

Check out the builing facade.

Extraordinary! Not to mention centuries old!

What most people don't realise is that Notre Dame Cathedral is not just another tourist attraction... it's also an on-going place of worship.

Mass is held daily at 12.00pm.

I was so happy to participate in Mass and receive Holy Communion in the great Notre Dame Cathedral. Never mind that mass was totally in French!

Within the many buttress of the Cathedral, there are many altars dedicated the various Saints and apparations of the Blessed Virgin.

And confession sessions are also held... in French, German and Italian.

I guess, with all the tourist walking around and the beautiful architecture surrounding the cathedral, it's a bit hard to remember that there's still people who come here to seek God and find inner peace.

Details around the main Altar - scenes in the life of Christ

One more aspect of the Notre Dame Cathedral architecture - beautifully stunning stained-glass windows!

One last memory of the inner sanctum of Notre Dame.

One important lesson my Dad taught me about visiting tourist spots... get there EARLY !!

Just look at that queue!