Ode to Notre Dame

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now the famous Parisian landmark, Notre Dame, just suffered a devastating fire which toppled the iconic steeple -

and destroyed most of the roof, which was currently undergoing extensive repairs.

My husband Andrew and I were lucky enough to visit the cathedral in June of 2005 on our week long excursion around Paris. Here’s what I wrote in my journal about our visit:

“From there we went on to visit Notre Dame. I wasn’t that impressed by the inside. After all, if you’ve seen one cathedral, you’ve seen them all! (actually, some of them are more unique) However, once you step outside and look around it, you can’t help but feel impressed by the amount of decoration and detail. When I showed our neighbor, Laurie, all the pictures we took of the gargoyles she was horrified and disgusted by them, but I found them rather fascinating. I also thought it was interesting how the gargoyles served a useful purpose as drain spouts. We observed this after it started raining rather heavily while we stood outside. You can just about see the water dribbling out of their mouths in some of our photos.

Later in the day we decided to check out the view from the top of Notre Dame. Before ascending, Andy tried to cheer me up – “At least it’s not as many stairs as St. Paul’s Cathedral!” This is true. I suppose 387 instead of 530 does sound a little more achievable. I had shin splints for at least two days afterwards, but I still think it was worth it.”

Okay, so perhaps I wasn’t exactly wowed by Notre Dame as a somewhat cynical tourist then, I have to admit we haven’t seen many (if any) cathedrals with flying buttress.’ Here’s what a CBS news story said about them:

Flying buttresses prevail

"CBS News correspondent Seth Doane said new video gave people around the world their first look inside the charred cathedral on Tuesday.

He said two-thirds of the building's roof was destroyed, but the medieval stone masons who built the iconic structure may have saved the main walls of the building by doing such a good job on the renowned flying buttresses, the half-arch supports that fortify the upper level of the cathedral."

My condolences go out to the Parisians. Although we have very few landmarks as old as Notre Dame (after all, America is still a pretty young country in comparison), we would probably feel the same sense of devastation if, for example, the Statue of Liberty were destroyed.

I am happy to hear that the Parisians hope to rebuild Notre Dame, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that they expect such an undertaking to take decades. After all, (Basilica) De La Sagrada Familia, an icon of Barcelona, is still under construction after more than 135 years (though expected to be completed in 2026). Also, as they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”