Maymester Day 2

The French man at the café scoffs and rolls his eyes at me. “Why you no pay together?” he asks as Jake, Brendan and I try to buy our morning espressos. Perhaps this is considered rude in France, or this guy is just having a shitty morning, maybe both? Whatever the case, the morning chaos instantly washes away as I enter the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame. I am at first shocked by the sheer size of the cathedral, but my attention slowly starts to turn to the details(as we have learned is of the utmost importance to the French)of the architecture and stained glass.
Once again, this circular theme is present at the top of the windows in each of the smaller cathedrals. There is a small circle, engulfed by another and another, much in the same way as the ceilings at Gallery Vivienne. But this time, 6 circles, break out of the core design and touch the edges of the main marble circle. I also find it very interesting how underneath this design(which concludes at the top of the arches, there are circle-like figures and ovals which weave their way up to the top of the pattern. It is almost as if they are foreshadowing the perfect circles which are the grand finale: the top of the arch.
With Notre Dame being such an inspiring and artistically rich place, I find it fascinating how dance was banned from the church for a period of time. To think that it was considered “unholy and lowly” is very hard to imagine in our day and age. However, I can understand how this idea could have been spread, especially because of the sexual nature of dance. They did not want any of these feelings to come about in the church, so I can see how they would have chosen Perotin’s “Viderunt Omnes” over watching dancers moving and contorting their bodies. To me, there are no pieces of music less sexy than Perotin’s.
I never would have thought the stained glass in Notre Dame could have been outdone, but the upper level of the Sainte-Chapelle did exactly this. I felt as if I was experiencing some type of“Phantasmagoria”(one of our favorite terms of the trip).
As I have been becoming more and more interested in photography lately, the way that the light streamed through the room was simply beautiful. The designs were amazing, but for me, the vividness and blend of the colors were the most spectacular.
While I doubt that any of the public were ever allowed into the Sainte-Chappelle while the kings were living there, I think it is so cool that they were able to go to Notre Dame as they pleased. I can’t imagine how mindblowing it would have been for lower class people to go into Notre Dame and experience the colors of the stained glass. Especially for someone who would not be able to experience almost any type of brilliant colors throughout their daily life, the Notre Dame Cathedral must have been nothing short of awe-inspiring for the common Parisian citizen.

A noble statue inside Notre Dame

A monument behind Notre Dame

The upper level of the Sainte-Chapelle