Being a Christian for as long as I can remember, I never had the chance to go to a Catholic Church. What better way to experience my first Catholic Church Sunday service than to go to one of the most famous Cathedrals in the entire world: Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Nicole said it would be good if I could go during the service, just for fun, and I did. Looked through the online website and found an 11.30am International Service.
After spending the first hour or so at Marché aux fleurs, I walked over to the grand Notre-Dame.
And of course, the building is perfectly stunning. Especially with the sun beaming in the background.
The architecture is magnificent. The intricacy that came with it is just beyond belief. How in the world would anyone have the metal ability to envision this building, much less design it and then see it built.
Honestly think the building is extremely well maintained. Must have taken a lot - monetary and physical effort - to maintain it.
Went in early to catch the end of the previous service and watch people participate in Mass.
I love the stain glassed windows, though In my opinion the best is not in Notre-Dame, but in the Sainte-Chapelle.
Lumière! As what my french teacher would say when she turns on the lights every week.
Sidetrack: I don't understand why nobody turns on the lights when they go in early to class, hahah! Its kind of amusing. Its as if we're all trying to conserve energy when maybe we're either all just too lazy to walk to the switch or too awkward because there was someone there and the lights weren't turned on.
Even the chandelier lights look so amazing. Reminds me of harry potter a little hahah!
We can see the tip of Sainte Chapelle there!
So turns out, the International Service didnt have much English. It was just "We welcome our christian friends from all over the world" and then the rest were in french. Nevertheless, I stayed for the whole 1.5hour service. It felt like I was in a french film or movie scene. People walking with candles down the aisle, some smoke thing the swing around, the standing up to sing every few minutes. It was cool, even though I understood nothing. On a side note, I really like the tune of the hymns they sang though. It was somehow comforting to be in the huge auditorium with so many people doing different things. Praying, kneeling, arms raised etc.
I was blessed to have that experience.
There was an american family sitting in front of me, and somehow the children seem to be unable to handle the "heat" and the crowd and 2 of the kids ended up fainting. That was quite shocking. One child just bend over and collapsed onto the row of chairs in front of them, and the other just sat down on the floor while she was walking out /:
After the service, I walked to Ile Saint Louis for a sandwich and the renown Berthillon Ice Cream. The queue was kind of long, but it was worth it.
2.50Euros for a cone, and i got the Pear flavoured one. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of it. It was not artificial, it tasted original, and most importantly, it was not too sweet. Just nice for a hot sunny day out :)
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