The top of the towers of Notre Dame

Vicki, Kristin and I took the steps to the top of the towers. (Whew!) There's a stop in a gift shop partway up. (Of course I had to buy postcards and souvenir playing cards. My friends and I were thrilled when one of the pictures on the playing cards was of the Abbaye de Royaumont, where our conference was to be.)

My son has a statue of one of the gargoyles of Notre Dame. One April in Paris, our family waited an hour to go up the towers, ended up getting drenched in a downpour and then gave up. So it was nice to get up there with a shorter wait and discover where you could see all the gargoyles. Of course the view was glorious!

I used my cell phone to call my son Timothy from the top of Notre Dame. As we finished talking, the bells started ringing!

Paris from the bell towers of Notre Dame. 

Timothy has a statue of this gargoyle. The church of Sacre Coeur is behind it. 

Looking at the Eiffel Tower 

Looking off toward La Defense 

Looking down at the Seine 

Behind the bell towers, the roof of the cathedral. 

Sunshine on Gargoyles 

The Eiffel Tower. 

I like the elephant gargoyle. 

This gargoyle's sticking out his tongue. 

Guarding the back of the cathedral. 

Looking at the back of Notre Dame from the bell towers. 

Statues and spires pointing to the sky. 

The goat looking at the Eiffel Tower 

Paris and the Seine 

Sunshine on the gargoyles. 

I like this pair of gargoyles.

This gargoyle's helping himself to a meal. 

From here, you can see much more detail on the top of the towers. The carvings are much more fanciful than the more serious carvings on the street level. 

See how tall I am! I fill the doorway! (Going up to the bell tower.) 

Kristin looking up into the bell. 

This gargoyle looks like a duck! 

Looking off toward Montmartre 

A last look at the city. 

Walking to Notre Dame

Kristin arrived around 11:00 on the morning of November 3rd. After a joyous greeting, we took the metro to the center of the city and walked from there to Notre Dame. We had lunch in a little cafe across from the cathedral, and then went to the top of the towers.

You can see what a beautiful clear day it was. We couldn't believe the weather was so glorious in November. We enjoyed it!

A beautiful statue we passed walking from the Metro to Notre Dame.