My mom came to visit me in Paris for two weeks. She has never been outside of the U.S. and so this was amazing that she got to visit me. Paris has always been a dream of hers from the age of 14, so it was a lot of fun taking her to all of my favorite places. I wasn't aware that we could walk up the steps and see the tower until I took my mom with me. It was one of the coolest places that we got to see because the view was breathtaking and we got to see more of the architecture. Once we got to the top it was absolutely stunning. You can see so much of the city. I loved it because I felt like I was in the movie, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." My favorite part though was realizing that we got to see the bells. I had completely forgotten how important the bells were to the cathedral. When you go to enter in you walk through the hobbit like looking doors (which is probably how the hunchback of Notre Dame got his hunchback) and walk through them. You then enter the small wooden room where there are two bells that look so majestic. It was such a fun surprise to get to see them.

After researching a little more on the bells I found out that there is only one bell that is from the original ten when it was first built. It is called Emmanuel. Emmanuel survived the revolution and was the only one left untouched. This bell rings to notify the hours of the day, special events. There are nine others which are named, Marie, Gabriel, Anne Genevieve, Denis, Marcel, Étienne, Benoit-Joseph, Maurice, and Jean Marie. All of these new bells have been blessed and purified. These 9 new bells have been washed with holy water and anointed inside and out. Then they are prayed over with a special blessing and prayer. Reading about them online does not do these bells justice. Seeing them in person are so worth the 400 step trek up to the tower. I also got to hear the bells ring one night after they had put a christmas tree up in the center of the court yard. Going up to the towers was probably one of my favorites things my mom and I got t experience.

Websites I found on the bells:

Esparza , Daniel. “The Stories behind the Bell Names in the Cathedral of Notre Dame.” Aleteia.org – Worldwide Catholic Network Sharing Faith Resources for Those Seeking Truth – Aleteia.org, 16 June 2017, aleteia.org/2017/06/16/the-stories-behind-the-names-of-the-bells-of-the-cathedral-of-notre-dame/.

Bryant, Elizabeth. "New Bells to Ring out at Notre Dame Cathedral." The Christian Century, no. 8, 2013, p. 19. EBSCOhost, oralroberts.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgbc&AN=edsgcl.329899258&site=eds-live&scope=site.