Then again it sprung from the earth as if in ecstasy, erect, with the piers and flying buttresses of the choir finished and ornamented two centuries after in the fullest flamboyant Gothic, charged with its bell-turrets, spires, and pinnacles.

A balustrade had been added, ornamented with trefoils, bordering the terrace on the chapels of the apse.

Gargoyles at the foot of the flying buttresses carried off the water from the roofs.
The top was also decorated with flowery emblems.

The whole edifice seemed to burst into blossom in proportion as it approached the sky in a continual upward flight, as if, relieved at being delivered from the ancient sacerdotal terror, it was about to lose itself in the bosom of a God of pardon and of love.

It seemed to have a physical sensation which permeated it, made it light and happy, like a sacred hymn it had just heard sung, very pure and holy, as it passed into the upper air.
Moreover, the Cathedral was alive.