today we visited some of Paris' lovely parks, starting with the one behind Notre Dame. it is a little bit of a walk, but once you get there, the first thing you see are the roses. bushes of pink, red, and white roses grow along the back fence of the cathedral, and it was here that we read a part of Victor Hugo's famous novel, "the Hunchback of Notre Dame." some may know it from the Disney version, but the actual tale is much darker than the kids tale. in it, Quasimodo, a horribly deformed creature, falls in love with Esmeralda, a flawless beauty. she takes pity on him, and the tale is about them fighting against a world of evil. i won't tell you how it ends...you have to read it yourself!
i learned that that was the way most romantics wrote; all the stories involved a horrible monster of a person falling in love with the fairest maiden in all the land, and most endings are usually tragic; they involve one or both of the lovers dying for each other.
something else i learned about Notre Dame is that the gargoyles that guard the ancient cathedral weren't actually put there until the 19Th century.the story is that the people wanted to tear the cathedral down and use the land for other things, but all the romantics were like 'no, its Gothic and beautiful! we must keep it!' and so, in order to keep the people from tearing it down, the romantics installed the gargoyles on order to make a beautiful cathedral more Gothic.
after the cathedral, we went to Trocadero, a platform that overlooks the Eiffel tower. there were many people there, both Parisians and tourists. i fully understood then what they said about the Parisians being avid people-watchers...for there were many people to watch that day. the sun was warm on our backs, and the breeze was cool, and as i looked over the magnificent tower, i though about my life and if i would ever see this sight again.
my answer is "yes...i will!"
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