The Notre Dame and Point Zero, Paris

200 years in the making and now 855 years old, the Notre Dame has got to be one of Paris’s most famous tourist spots. We didn’t make it to the top as, as you’ve guessed, it was way too busy, but I would recommend anyone planning a trip to go up. I went up there when I was 12 and I do remember it being it being an incredible view. I also have googled and looked at photos… Only kicking myself a little now for avoiding the crowds!

This was technically our second visit as the first one we made the mistake of arriving in the middle of the day. Seeing the que looping around on itself three times, we thought it best to come early the next morning. It was still pretty busy, but we were only in a que of 50 rather than 5000 (only being slightly dramatic here). As it’s free to enter it only took about ten minutes to get in.As soon as you enter, there’s a powerful hush that sweeps over everything. Without realising, we were speaking in whispers and even walking gently to avoid too much noise.I really love the historic side of tourism and we were definitely in the right place. With so many paintings, stained glass windows, memorials and more to look at, you could easily spend hours in there.Unfortunately we didn’t see Quasimodo but we did find Esmerelda. She has great coffee and there are toilets! One thing I found about Paris is that there aren’t many public loos so we had to stop in cafes a lot for drinks and cake. It was a real burden…Just outside the Notre Dame is the Point Zero of Paris. We saw a lot of people stand here and spin around on it with their eyes closed. Not sure what it means so I didn’t do it, but perhaps its lucky? If anyone knows I’d appreciate your input!