Paris - Notre Dame

Notre-Dame is the Paris Catholic cathedral and has been since the Middle Ages. Maurice de Sully, the Paris bishop at the time, started its construction in 1163. Its building went on for two centuries! Most of the craftsmen (architects, sculptors) are anonymous.

What do you see when you look up to the top of the great cathedral of Notre Dame? You see monsters, half-man and half-beast. These demon looking creatures carved out of stone are called "gargoyles". They are one of the many eerie stone figures that adorn the gutters of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. "Gargoyle" comes from a Latin word, meaning "gullet" or "drain". That's what the strange looking creatures are, they're drainpipes. Each grotesque figure has a passageway inside that carries rainwater from the roof and out through the gargoyle's mouth.

Why would the drain pipes need to look like demons? Some believe the claim that theses grotesque figures frighten away evil spirits while with serving its practical duty.

We had told the girls we were going to the Notre Dame, which was the church in the Hunchback cartoon they watched when they were little. For two days we tried to think of the hunchback's name but couldn't remember it. Then, just as we rounded the corner and saw the cathedral, Mike said, "Quasimodo!"