French la Vie

 

As I walked around Notre Dame in Paris I could not help but cry. It was shocking to see the damage even if the facade remains mostly intact.  The Rose glass windows have miraculously survived, their supporting facades stand strikingly tall and seemingly alone. The windows around the ambulatory appeared to be missing what I could see seemed to be empty spaces replaced by boarded-up plastic shields.

Notre Dame is sealed completely off by a wall. I walked in a daze along the river and crossed the bridge behind to see the full effect of the damage I can only imagine the damage on the inside, and how horrific for the parishioners and neighbors who lived near it.

Notre Dame will take time to analyze before restoration can begin.

 

 

 

 

 

The smell of ash was startling. Yann said there was a report that said 300 tons of lead melted in the fire the authorities are asking pregnant, nursing mothers and families with newborns who lived nearby to be tested for lead levels. Chelsea lives further away so it wasn’t necessary.

A long time blog reader wrote to me:

"Yes, I too read about the lead and was very worried for the people who live and work so close by. No one on the U.S. news talked about humans at the time of the fire, but there are so many shops and food carts and the flower market… I really love to noodle around that area and I have a favorite shop where I buy my Paris "tchochkes "…sachets and tea towels and an ugly magnet for my daughter. Apparently, they were only closed for a couple of days, and the man who owns "my" store said that business was booming. "

 

 

 

IThe bell towers and the main facade are intact, the bells survived but remain silent. 

The organ:

 

"…More recently, during the 20th century, renovations were often the result of strong or sudden changes in the weather and other environmental factors: an overflowing of the Seine, heat waves… Fortunately, the organ was largely spared by the fire that started in the cathedral in the evening of 15 April 2019. However, the dust, soot, and intense heat from the fire will undoubtedly have had an impact upon the instrument. Not to mention the site's exceptional acoustic with a seven-second echo. Its roof largely destroyed, it will be a while before we are able to hear the organ rumble once more… As for the second instrument held in the building, a small chorus organ from 1969, the assessment is far less positive since the instrument was directly flooded during the work by firefighters."

 

 

 

My friend Barbara Willis wrote to me on FB:

"…Despite this tragedy, she stands and will in time heal.

Never the same but refreshed for new generations to

worship, marry, Christen their children, pray and praise God.

So much is gone but her heart remains to rise again."