The first time I saw the Notre Dame Cathedral (or really anything outside the western United States) was as a Mormon missionary in 1992. There was a tourist shop nearby that gave screamin’ deals to missionaries and I bought pretty much my favorite souvenir ever, a replica of the Rongeur gargoyle.

I imagined him chomping on a stretched-out rabbit that’s using its front paws to brace itself on the gargoyle’s mouth, but maybe it’s a chicken. I displayed it proudly in my cubicle at Delta Air Lines until my last day when it met an untimely death in the stairwell. I still regret not taking the elevator.

Here are a few photos of Notre Dame and/or Parisian gargoyles.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Le Rongeur – my favorite gargoyle

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Tour Saint-Jacques to the left of the gargoyle, Sacre Coeur on the hill in the center.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Sacre Coeur on the left, Tour Saint-Jacques on the left

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral – Final Judgment

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Tour Saint-Jacques

These lion-dog gargoyles atop Tour Saint-Jacques make me think of the end of Ghostbusters

Bare-breasted lion lady?