The Seine bends around Île de la Cité in a wide arc that has carried trade barges, royal processions, and tourist bateaux for eight centuries. Notre-Dame's western façade rises 69 metres above the water, its twin towers framing the rose window that Viollet-le-Duc restored in the 1860s after revolutionary vandalism and two decades of neglect. The cathedral's silhouette—flying buttresses radiating from the apse, the 96-metre spire reconstructed in oak and lead after the 2019 fire—is best read from the river, where distance reveals the Gothic engineers' intent: to lift stone toward light while anchoring it to the island's bedrock. Paris boat tours along the Seine traverse seven bridges between the Eiffel Tower and Île Saint-Louis, each crossing a different century of architectural ambition. Pont Neuf, completed in 1607, was the first Parisian bridge built without houses; its twelve arches carry pedestrians past the square du Vert-Galant, where Henri IV's equestrian statue overlooks the western tip of the Cité. Upstream, Pont de l'Archevêché frames the cathedral's southern flank, its single steel span installed in 1828 to replace a wooden footbridge that had linked the Left Bank to the archbishop's residence since the Middle Ages. River traffic slows here—commercial barges yield to sightseeing vessels under a 1950s navigation ordinance that limits wake near historic quays. Notre-Dame cathedral tours resumed in December 2024, five years after the fire that consumed the medieval roof timbers and collapsed the spire onto the transept. The interior reopened with 850 years of soot removed from the limestone, revealing cream and ochre tones unseen since the 13th century. The organ's 8,000 pipes were dismantled, cleaned, and returned; the north rose window, protected by scaffolding during the blaze, now transmits unfiltered afternoon light across the nave's 12-metre width. Exterior restoration continues through 2026, with masons replacing 42 gargoyles and resetting the lead flashing that channels rainwater away from the vaults. Seine cruises pass close enough to count the new oak beams in the reconstructed spire, each one hand-hewn and fitted without metal fasteners, replicating Viollet-le-Duc's 19th-century technique that itself echoed medieval practice. The river remains the most stable viewpoint—immune to street closures, scaffolding, and the queues that form daily along Parvis Notre-Dame.