I was so truly in love with La Notre-Dame de Fourviere.

A soft sound of an accordion plays. The way the stairs lead up your eyes up, preparing them for the structure about to come. You’re then welcomed by a blue sky acting as the perfect frame for the white silhouette. While the vastness of the building is being processed, you begin to notice the details: the gray columns, the big gate ornamented with Christ on top, the people surrounding him, the lion guarding the gate, the flowered capitals, and hundreds of more details. What’s even more intriguing is the symbolism and meaning behind Every. Single. Piece. Every time I looked away and looked back, I noticed a different set of details. I was thinking to myself on how I wish I could float up to see all the carvings up close and revolve around the building for hours (maybe someday).

I then began to think about the process of this development. The people who did this (willingly or not), the sweat, blood, and tears poured into this. The feet that have walked around the building and through the doors. The people that have celebrated and the ones that have cried. All of these actions and emotions existing in front of us, just at a different time.

If the outside of this building made me think this much, imagine what the inside will do to me. I think I’ll try to pay a visit.