COUNTY VIEW: Paris bells ring out again after France pulls together

A short five years since the iconic emblem of France lay shattered, gutted by fire, the restored Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral will reopen on December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception.
On that apocalyptic evening in April 2019, it seemed to many as if civilisation itself was coming to an end. Thousands of people lined the banks of the Seine and watched in horror as the beloved cathedral, symbol of everything the nation held dear, came close to total ruin.
Through that night and into the next day, Parisians gathered along the river to hold vigils, to sing and to pray; many wept loudly as the ancient spire came crashing down, and firemen bravely risked their lives to save what they could of the historic structure.
As President Macron stood in front of the burning embers that day, he made a promise that Our Lady of Paris would be restored to its former glory by the time of the Olympic games, five years hence. It was a pledge that few expected to be honoured and, even though he may have missed the deadline by a matter of months, the now embattled Macron will have guaranteed his place in French history now that his grandiose forecast did, in fact, become reality.
The restoration of Notre Dame was a huge undertaking not only in financial terms but also because of the scale of craftsmanship and design that the project demanded. Skilled woodworkers and carvers from all over the world answered the call and brought with them an agreed insistence that every piece of work would replicate the medieval building techniques and materials first used when the cathedral was built seven centuries ago.
The oak roof, which had burned like matchwood in the conflagration, would be faithfully restored; the towering spire, which was carved in oak and clad in lead sheeting, painstakingly recreated, inch by inch.
The new roof and spire were assembled in workshops at various locations in Normandy and the Loire Valley, dismantled, transported to Paris, reassembled on platforms and hoisted into place by cranes. But this was after half-a-million square feet of stone surfaces, blackened by soot and grime, had been cleaned; sculptures completely renewed, the great organ cleaned, the stained glass windows (fortunately spared by the flames), reassembled.
And meanwhile, the fundraising went on. The original estimate of €750 million had gone to €846 million, donors from 150 countries contributed to the cause. Private donation from French industries accounted for over half the total.
But the celebratory joy which will mark December 8 will not be without its poignancy. Macron had entrusted the restoration project to a retired French army chief, General Jean Louis Georgelin, whose optimism and drive were crucial to meeting the formidable task. To the utter grief of all who worked under his leadership, Georgelin was accidentally killed during a mountain hike in the Pyrenees last year.
In a deserved tribute to the restoration team, when the first Mass is celebrated, the choir of 80 will be made up of craftspeople and artisans who worked on the restoration over the past five years. And high up on the tip of the spire, the gilded ornamental cockerel will contain a scroll bearing the names of all one thousand people involved in the reconstruction – from the project manager to the architects and specialists, down to the security guards and the canteen ladies. Inside, too, will be the sealed case that holds the ancient treasures of Notre Dame – a piece of the Crown of Thorns and the relics of Saints Denis and Genevieve.
When President Macron delivers what will be an historic oration to mark the reopening of Notre Dame, he will do so from the open pavement in front of the building, the better to emphasise the separation between Church and State.
And, being French, the occasion will not be entirely free of controversy. Macron is at present engaged in a stand off with the planners by wanting to donate six of seven eastern stained-glass windows to a museum, replacing them with windows of a modern design. His proposal has provoked outrage among traditionalists; the impasse is unlikely to be resolved before the big day.