tick tock

I plan to comment on highlights of my trip in no particular order in the next few blogs. Today's topic is a very special clock.

This clock is located inside the cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France.  It's at least 30 feet tall, maybe 40, first installed in the 1500s.  We arrived in time to see the little boy at the top of the clock run past the skeleton.  This section of the clock depicts the death of time and humans.  In the course of an hour, four figures move in a circular path around the skeleton, first a little boy, then a young man, then a mature person and finally an old person.  Just under that is a sphere that depicts the phases of the moon.  It was a crescent when we saw it.  Next is a depiction of the solar system.  Interestingly, this originally showed the earth at the center.  When it was discovered that the sun was the center of the universe they changed it.  Just under that is an actual clock face where you can check the time.  There are many, many more features like cupids and little figures striking gongs.  It is the most entertaining clock I have ever seen; a perfect marriage of accuracy and artistry.