June 15 - Day Two

Written by Adam

Today we saw Notre Dame and Victor Hugo's house. They were two really amazing sights to see.
When we arrived at Notre Dame, we were amazed. There were so many statues, paintings and stained-glass windows. The statues depicted stories from the Bible including Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. We also saw statues that look like saints including Joan of Arc. The paintings also depicted stories from the Bible such as the Crucifixion. They were on huge, enormous canvases. There were four rose windows and many other stained-glass windows. The rose windows were at the front, back, and and sides of the cathedral, They showed pictures of Jesus, Mary, and saints. One thing that everyone found out was that Notre Dame means "Our Lady, Mary, the mother of God." There is a statue at the front of the church that shows Mary, our lady, holding her baby, Jesus.

The climb to the top of the tower was horrible because we walked up about 476 stairs that went in circles. But when we reached the top, the view was spectacular. You could see almost all of Paris. Many gargoyles were at the top of the church. They look like little demons that are supposed to keep out evil. One was eating a dog and another was showing his teeth. Notre Dame was a thrilling and breathtaking experience for us.

Later we went to Victor Hugo's house. We say pictures of his family, his rooms, and paintings of moments depicted in his books. One canvas had many pictures of scenes in Notre Dame including when Frollo fell off Notre Dame. There were rooms designed by his mistress and rooms made into a museum. It was quite interesting to see how he lived. We learned that Victor Hugo had a mistress and that he is really good at drawing. We had a lot of fun there.

Later that day we went to dinner. We watched the World Cup as we have done every night, and we talked about funny subjects. After dinner we had gelato and played on a stone head. June 15th was a fun day.