Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Day 1 (and 2) continued at Notre Dame

After a bit, I walked over to Notre Dame. I figured I wouldn't make the midnight mass (and it's too crowded, anyway), so I went to an early evening one. This video shows the priest swinging the incense:
I'm not Catholic, but there's something powerful about seeing Christmas mass in the second most famous cathedral. Lots of rude picture takers with flashes, although that's explicitly forbidden. A little further down from the altar, I found this year's creche. The church lit up scenes from the wood carvings as the priest told the story. Here's a short video: 
Many churches this year seemed to be using technology, often to poor effect. See, for example, this version of Mary with the disco ball at St. Severin:

The simple candles were much more effective and left me wondering how they got them up there.

Ended the night with a cheap but decent meal at a nearby cafe. Had escargot, supposedly duck breast in green pepper sauce (was actually a steak, but who's to quibble as it was good) and creme brulee. Tomorrow will have fewer videos and more pictures

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