Leaping Off the Page

You know what’s fun? Visiting places you’ve only read about in books. When I was in Grade 11, I read the Hunchback of Notre Dame in my French class. It was a dumbed-down version of the French classic by Victor Hugo, obviously, but I enjoyed it. I had seen the animated Disney animated version when I was 10, but it was much more moving in literary form.

As I read it, I imagined what the beautiful cathedral looked like: the gargoyles, the bells, the angry priests within. Then I went to Paris and I saw what it actually looked like. Turns out I was wrong. It looks nothing like what I thought it does. The Notre Dame de Paris cathedral is located on Île de la Cité, an island in the middle of the River Seine in Paris. Standing in front of it, the cathedral looks quite small.


But it’s much larger from the inside. Nicole and I went in and ended up staying for mass. Then we wondered around and it’s actually quite large. It’s even larger from the back.

Inside Notre Dame

Taken from the altar looking backward

Disappointingly, there’s no hunchback lurking around, ringing bells. I checked.