Headed to Notre Dame around 9:30am.

Walked into the Notre Dame, a lot of stained glasses window which so colorful and bright. We remained quiet like the sign said. The most interesting objects we seen were the Gargoyles and Chimera on the middle level toward to the top of Notre Dame, thanks for Kevin told me about them.

According to Wikipedia, "a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite,[1] with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between." Most of the Gargoyles and Chimera are on the façade, seated on a gallery, watching the people below and scanning all of Paris. The sculptors really used their imagination on these statues. They are animal and human figures, half-man and half-beast, grotesque, horrific, fantastic creatures with eagles' beaks and wings, lions' talons, serpents' tails. I took lots of photos of them. The different between gargoyles and chimera which Chimeras are creatures that are mixes of different types of animal body parts to create a new creature. Some of the more notable chimeras are griffins, centaurs, harpies, and mermaids. Chimeras often served as a warning to people who underestimated the devil.

Moreover, according to Wikipedia, "Often gargoyles were used to assist the Church in conveying messages to the common people. Since literacy was uncommon, images were the best way to constantly convey ideas. Gargoyles were used as a representation of evil. It is thought that they were used to scare people into coming to church, reminding them that the end of days is near. It is also thought that their presence assured congregants that evil is kept outside of the church's walls."

The history of Gargoyles and Chimera fascinated me, and now every time I passed by a church I would look for the appearances of them.

Wikipedia of the Gargoyle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle