Subscribe to our newsletter. Before entering the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris take time to sit in the square in front of the cathedral. Listen the multiple languages around you. Look at the faces of the pilgrims and tourists, some pilgrims cross the square on their knees as a sign of respect before entering the church. Gypsies beg in front, give if you wish, but be careful of your purse.
Pigeons swoop down, vigilant for falling crumbs.
Before they can pick them up, small brown birds hurl themselves between pigeon beaks and snatch the food. Peddlers in the square sell souvenirs and food. Watch people as they enter the doors to the cathedral, the scale of human to the monument to the Virgin Mary. Notre Dame de Paris was built on holy ground. The Celts raised wood and reed tabernacles to the gods there before the Romans.