Laverne: Bonjour a tous! Nous nous appellons Victor, Hugo et Laverne. Nous sommes vos guides pour la tournéede la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris! Bienvenue nos amis!

Victor: Aujourd’hui on va vous apprendre qu’est-ce que Notre Dame? Où se trouve-t-elle? Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle avait été construit? Dans quel style d’architecture était-elle faite ? Finalement, pourquoi est-ce qu’on apprends tout ceci.

Hugo: Woah, woah woah! Attendez Victor et Hugo! C’est possible que nos amis ne parlent pas autant de français. Pouvons-nous faire le tour en anglais ET en français pour qu’ils puissent comprendre?

Laverne: Okay, we can do that Hugo. Is this better? Can you all understand now?

Étudiants: Oui! That is much better! Merci!

Laverne: Parfait! On y va!

Victor: En anglais, Laverne!

Étudiants : (laugh)

Laverne: Let’s start the tour everyone!

Laverne: This is Notre-Dame. Does anyone know what “Notre Dame” translates to in English?

Fille: “Notre Dame” means our lady!

Laverne: Exactement! Notre-Dame est « une cathédrale » or in English, a cathedral or church. Can someone tell me where we are so that we know where the cathedral is? Nous sommes à quelle ville dans quel pays?

Garçon: Nous sommes à Paris de France!

Fille: C’est nous sommes à Paris EN France.

Laverne: Très bien! Notre-Dame is in Paris, France.

Victor: To be more specific, we are in l’Île de France which is the most populated region of France.

Hugo: Oh, tu parles de l’Île de la Cité?

Victor: Non, Hugo, fais attention, toi! On parle de l’Île de FRANCE. Mais, car tu l’as mentioné, est-ce que personne sait qu’est-ce que l’Île de la Cité ?

Hugo: Moi! Moi! Moi!

Étudiants : (laugh)

Victor: Ouiiiii Hugo…?

Hugo: l’Île de la Cité est où on se trouve!

Laverne: Hugo, soit plus specific.

Hugo: D’ac. l’Île de la Cité, in English the “island or isle of the city”, is one of the only remaining islands in Paris on the Seine river. That is why when we are at Notre-Dame we are surrounded by water. Look around!

Étudiants: Oh la la!

Fille: Comme c’est beau ici!

Laverne: Oui, c’est très beau ici. On l’adore! l’Île de la Cité is one of the most historical regions of Paris. Pour continuer, Victor, est-ce que tu veux éxpliquer aux étudiants pourquoi Notre-Dame avait été construit?

Victor: Bien sûr! I would love to tell the students why Notre Dame was built!

Victor: The 6th and 7th centuries in Western European history are characterized by a great increase in population. This increased the needs of the city. This is important to the cathedral because France, at this time, was a very religious country. Can anyone tell me, in French, what religion was the most famous?

Garçon: « Christianity » ou le Christianisme.

Victor: Oui! C’est ça, le Christianisme. Because of the growing population, the masses were growing as well. The word for « mass » in French is « une messe ». Can we all say it together?

All: Une messe

Victor: Est-ce que tu veux continuer, Laverne?

Laverne: Oui, je veux bien. So students, as we said, the population in France was growing and so was church attendance. The cathedral they had been using for many years was no longer big enough to accommodate the people of Paris. But there is another reason a new cathedral was built. The parisian church became the most famous of all those in France and therefore had to be the best in the country. Therefore, Maurice de Sully, the bishop at the time, ordered the previous cathedral to be demolished as it would be replaced by a bigger and more worthy one. Est-ce que tout le monde me suive?

Étudiants: Oui.

Laverne: Très bien mes touristes! Donc, en mille-cent-soixante, year 1160, Sully a ordoné la destruction du vielle cathédrale et la construction d’une nouvelle. Hugo, would you like to tell the students about the architecture of Notre-Dame?

Hugo: (kissing noises)

Étudiants: (laughing)

Laverne: HUGO! Fais attention! Tu fais quoi là?! On donne une tournée!

Hugo: Oh! J’ai oublié! Comme ce mouton est beau! Désolé tout le monde! Donc, qu’est-ce que c’est le question?

Étudiants: You are going to tell us about the architecture of Notre-Dame.

Hugo: Parfait! Alors, la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris est une cathédrale gothique. Ca veut dire, a gothic cathedral. Gothic is the type of architecture that was common at this time. We can see many similarities between Notre-Dame de Paris and other cathedrals built in the same style at this period.

Hugo: These are other cathedrals in France built during the medieval times like Notre-Dame de Paris. But let’s focus on OUR cathedral and why she is so special. Victor, veux-tu continuer?

Victor: One thing Notre-Dame de Paris is known for is “ses gargouilles”. Est-ce que quelqu’un sait qu’est-ce q’un gargouille?

Fille: Vous êtes des gargouilles!

Victor: Exactement! “Une gargouille” is a gargoyle. WE are some of the gargoyles Notre-Dame is famous for! We like to think we are the most important because we tell the story of the cathedral, but the other gargoyles have a function as well. Laverne…

Laverne: The gargoyles situated along the sides of the roof of Notre-Dame drain the water off of the roof. They are like a fancy form of the gutters we have on our homes. But these stone creatures are crafted to do this in a specific way. Looking at the next picture can anyone think of what I mean by this?

(pause 10 seconds)

Laverne: Les gargouilles jettent l’eau loin des murs. Comme ça la cathédrale reste en bonne forme.

Garçon: So they drain the water away from the walls so the walls don’t get wet?

Laverne: Precisiely. The gargoyles are said to protect the cathedral and Paris as well, as they over look the city. The gargoyles are often designed to look scary, though clearly not all of us are. Take Hugo for example.

Hugo: Hein?

Étudiants: (laugh)

Laverne: Voyons, il n’est pas effrayant.

Victor: Celle-ci est un peu plus effrayant.

Hugo: AHH! (pause) Sorry everyone, these scared me!

Laverne: Clairement, nous sommes les meilleurs gargouilles!

Hugo: Mais, bien sûr!

Victor: Maintenant, on va parler un petit peu des rosaces de Notre-Dame. Une rosace, in English, is a rose window. In terms of cathedral the rose window a colorful stained glass window that serves as a focal point of the cathedral. They tend to be very large and visible.

Victor: The rose windows in Notre-Dame are said to be some of the most remarkable in all of France. Even from the outside, as seen in this picture, the rose windows are pure arwork.

Victor: Ici est la rosace du sud. Celle-ci est la plus grande.

Victor: Donc, on arrive à la question “quelle est la signification de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris pour nous? Avez-vous des idées?

Fille: Peut-être il y avait des grands événements qui avait eu lieu ici…

Victor: Autres idées?

Garçon: Est-ce qu’on va avoir un examen?!

Étudiants: (gasps)

Victor: Calmez-vous mes touristes. Vous n’auriez pas un examen. You will NOT have a test on this.

Victor: Et ici est la rosace du nord.

Étudiants: Super!

Fille: What happened here?

Victor: Great question mademoiselle! Hugo, would you like to share with the students some important events that happened here?

Hugo: Where do I start! There are so many!

Hugo: Well there was that time the the pope came from Italy to bless the crown for Napoleon, and he stole the crown and put it on his own head! Talk about impoli!

Hugo: There was the Requiem, or funeral, for Charles de Gaulle. What do you two remember, Victor et Laverne?

Laverne: There have been so many beautiful, moving masses on a normal Sunday.

Victor: I love when they play the organ. It is such a crucial part of the mass. Does anyone know how to say organ in French?

Étudiants: Un organe!

Victor: Exactement! Hugo, anything else?

Hugo: Bien sûr! I think the most important thing that has ever happened here is the hundreds of individual prayers that are said here everyday. People are welcomed to light a candle and say a prayer and the candles are never blown out. It is a symbol of everlasting hope for our visitors and us.

Quasi: Eh salut mes amis! Qu’est-ce que vous faites?

Hugo: Ehhh salut mec! On donne une tournée, et toi?

Quasi: Oh, désolé, je savais pas! Salut tout le monde! Je m’appelle Quasimodo. Vous pouvez m’appeller Quasi.

Étudiants: Bonjour Monsieur Quasi!

Quasi: Bonjourrrr! J’habite ici et j’ai besoin de toutes les gargouilles dans un moment…puis-je les voler?

Victor: Is that okay students?

Fille: Yes that’s okay. We have to leave for lunch right now.

Victor: Okay. Rapidement on va résumer qu’est-ce qu’on a appris. Est-ce que quelqu’un veux commencer? Vous pouvez le faire en anglais.

Garçon: I learned that les gargouilles, the gargoyles, are meant to drain the rain water off the roof and away from the building. Some of them are scary looking though! Also, Napoleon was crowned here by the pope, or rather, himself!

Fille: I learned that les rosaces, the rose windows, are huge stained glass windows that serve as focal points of the cathedral, or in French, la cathédrale. They are so pretty! Also, I learned that people light candles here and say prayers every day.

Garçon: I learned that Hugo has a crush on a goat!

Étudiants: (laugh)

Garçon: But really guys, I learned that Notre-Dame de Paris means “Our Lady of Paris”. What a nice name for such a beautiful cathedral!

Fille: I learned about l’Île de la Cité and l’Île de France. I learned about l’architecture gothique, in English gothic architecture, too! Super cool!

Laverne: Magnifique! We are so happy you have learned so much but yet so sad to see you go. You must visit us again soon! Bring your friends next time and YOU can give THEM a tour of la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris!

Victor: Et racontez-vous, nous vous protégeons.