“And, in the first place, to cite only a few leading examples, there certainly are few finer architectural pages than this façade, where, successively and at once, the three portals hollowed out in an arch; the broidered and dentated cordon of the eight and twenty royal niches [if you count the people above the three doors, there are really 28!]; the immense central rose window, flanked by its two lateral windows, like a priest by his deacon and subdeacon; the frail and lofty gallery of trefoil arcades, which supports a heavy platform [the thin columns have a platform above it that you can still walk on – that’s where the famous gargoyles are] above its fine, slender columns; and lastly, the two black and massive towers with their slate penthouses, harmonious parts of a magnificent whole, superposed in five gigantic stories; – Hunchback of Notre Dame, Book III, Chapter 1: Notre Dame

Pont Neuf – The oldest standing bridge in Paris.

Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge in Paris.  Mentioned in Book II, Chapter 1: From Charybdis to Scylla.

Musee de Cluny

Hotel de Cluny (now Musee de Cluny) is mentioned in Book III, Chapter 2.

According to wikipedia, “Among the principal holdings of the museum are the six La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn) tapestries, from the late fifteenth century, often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe.”

I didn’t get a chance when I was in Paris to see this museum, but I really wanted to! Maybe next time *le sigh*

Saint-Jacques Tower

Saint-Jacques Tower. Mentioned in Book III, Chapter 2.

Nicolas Flamel’s house in Paris.

Nicolas Flamel’s house in Paris. The one mentioned in the book on Rue des Ecrivans and Rue Marivault is no longer there.  But this one is still standing! Cool! The bottom floor is a restaurant. Nicolas Flamel is actually mentioned a lot in the book.

Photos taken by me of Notre-Dame from the right side in 2008.

Me at Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2008.

Paintings Mentioned

Victor Hugo mentioned two specific paintings in his book.

“Night Watch” by Rembrandt

“Night Watch” by Rembrandt is mentioned in Book I, Chapter 3: Monsieur the Cardinal.

“Doctor Faust” by Remembrandt

The Priest Claude Frollo’s cell is said to look a lot like this engraving called “Doctor Faust” by Remembrandt.

“He has half risen from his immense arm-chair, his clenched fists rest on the table, and he is gazing with curiosity and terror at a large luminous circle, formed of magic letters, which gleams from the wall beyond, like the solar spectrum in a dark chamber. This cabalistic sun seems to tremble before the eye, and fills the wan cell with its mysterious radiance. It is horrible and it is beautiful.” – Victor Hugo, Hunchback of Notre Dame (Book VII, Chapter 4).

Random Facts I Looked Up

Fashion

• Did Victor Hugo save the Notre-Dame Cathedral with his book? Yes. “One of the effects of the novel was to shame the City of Paris into restoring the much-neglected Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was attracting thousands of tourists who had read the popular novel. The book also inspired a renewed appreciation for pre-Renaissance buildings, which thereafter began to be actively preserved.” Source.
• Why does Victor Hugo talk about things missing from the cathedral in Book III Chapter 1? I think he’s talking about the destruction done in the French Revolution.  According to Wikipedia “The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc removed remaining decoration, returning the cathedral to an ‘original’ gothic state.”
• Is this a real scripture? “Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:” Yep it’s in Job 4:15.  This scripture was mentioned in Book IX Chapter 1.  Isn’t that a cool scripture?

About Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism, and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He was buried in the Panthéon.