Bells and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Walking to Notre Dame Collegial Church, we passed a beffroi.  According to Wikipedia, it s the old Northern French word meaning a structure enclosing bells.  Belfry is the English word.

 As we got to Notre Dame, we could hear the bells ringing non-stop.  Three bells?  That was unusual as they usually rang to announce the passing of time and for a couple of strokes only.

As we got to the front, we could see mourners gathered for a funeral.  There was soft crying at the entrance to the church as people crowded around some key folk.   What stood out to us was that the mourners were mostly African, stately in appearance, in black, some women often wearing striking headwear. We stayed for some of the service. Red River Valley was sung as the coffin was carried by pall bearers to the altar.  The man was a young 41year old, from the Congo, who moved to Baune with his parents, studied at the University of Dijon, then moved to London to work.  He was married and had three young children.  How he died was not mentioned.  The whole service was very moving.  I don't know why we were so affected.  I think we were not expecting this, especially as we have had our share of funerals in the past.  And it gave us some insight into the lives of people who had moved from Africa to France.  

This is the cathedral, back and front.