I did not visit Notre-Dame cathedral when I went to Paris. Here’s why

Soon after the devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, many people who have visited the French capital put up pictures they had taken of the 850-year-old church.

At the risk of sounding like an ignoramus, let me admit that till the time the news of the fire broke, I only had a hazy idea about the this Catholic church that the French people identify so much with.

By “hazy idea”, I mean I was aware of the presence of Notre-Dame as a church, but I wasn’t aware that the most famous one of the name was present in Paris. (There are 18 churches only in France called Notre-Dame, says Wikipedia.)

But I had been all around Paris (mostly walked) over three days. So, I thought, chances are I had seen the Notre-Dame cathedral even though I was not aware of how famous it was. 

I went back to my 2012 Paris pictures and sure enough, in a background of a selfie before the word was coined, there stood the most famous example of French Gothic architecture, with the two towers and spire intact. 

This made me ask myself now that the cathedral was badly damaged in the fire, whether I was a tad bit upset of not having been to the famous monument despite being in Paris. 

I realised I was sad because such a beautiful example of architecture had been damaged and historical artefacts lost and not because I hadn’t visited the church.

You cannot see everything. I am a strong believer in this theory while travelling. Also, you don’t have to.

When I go to a new city, I do not make a big to-do list. Perhaps only a couple and the rest I leave it to the city to surprise me. For Paris, I only had two things on my agenda. One, to go say hi to Mona Lisa. Two, hang out a bit around the Eiffel Tower.

With those two done, I spent the rest of my time exploring the city’s public transport, walking for hours and hours and clicking picture with/of pretty buildings (one of which just happened to be the Notre-Dame cathedral), learning to cook quiche Lorraine from my French host who also showed me a non-touristy way up/down the Montmartre.

Also, I had great views of the city — Eiffel Tower and the Montmartre included — from the 17th floor balcony of my Couchsurfing host. So, my overall experience in Paris was excellent despite not doing all the touristy things. FOMO (Fear Or Missing Out, in case you’re clueless) isn’t something that has a big impact on my life.

What I am trying to say here is, travel is a personal thing. There is no right or perfect way to do it. Everyone has their own way and it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing.

Let Karan Johar deal with FOMO. You do it your way.