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Part 2

In the plaza in front of Notre Dame was a huge bronze statue of Charlemagne, also referred to as Charles the Great. He essentially founded the Carolingian Empire (800 - 888 AD), which consisted mainly of France and Germany.

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, and became Emperor of the Franks in 768 at the
age of 26 upon the death of his father. He was crowned King of the Carolingian Empire
by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne was 58. The coronation took place on Christmas day,
25 December 800, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome.

The Empire of Charlemagne, 843 AD.

A comparison shot to show the actual size of the statue of Charlemagne
by looking at the people at the base of the statue. It was awesome.

As we walked around the cathedral, we could see why it is one of the most famous in all the world.

The left side of the cathedral. Rain water from the roof is channelled through the gargoyles sticking
straight out from the top and middle sections to keep the water from eroding the sides of the building.

This is a good shot of the flying buttresses from the rear of the cathedral

The purpose of the flying buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards
(which may arise from stone vaulted ceilings or from wind-loading on roofs) by redirecting the lateral forces to the ground.

The motor coach we had for the City Tour was very comfortable, and with few passengers.

This is Les Invalides in which the tomb of Napoleon resides. Pete and I visited the tomb on our first trip to
Paris several years ago. It is quite interesting, and I was surprised to see what a short man the Emperor was
for being such a great general. I had expected him to be a huge and powerful man, but evidently his strength
was in his mind, and in military strategy.

But more about this in Part 3.