During our first visit to Notre Dame a few days ago the queue to climb the cathedral's south tower was very long so we skipped it, resolving to return another day to make the climb. This we did today. Again, the queue was long but the wait was more than worth it. We climbed the bell tower's 425 stairs to the top and were rewarded with panoramas of Paris in all directions. On the way up, we got close up views of the cathedral's famous gargoyles and chimeras as well as the giant bells that Victor Hugo's deformed fictional character Quasimodo rang in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.