Paris Landmark ‘Saved From Total Destruction’
All over social media the message was the same: sad and devastated.
As the Notre Dame Cathedral fire raged at this Paris landmark, people let their their feelings known about its potential loss. Fortunately, a Paris fire official told the media it has been “saved from total destruction.”
Paris fire-service commander Jean-Claude Galler said “we consider the two towers of NOtre-Dame to have been saved.
The outpouring of emotions of it have been widespread on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The passion has been such that you would thought people lost a loved one.
My heart is heavy. #Paris #NotreDame https://t.co/L7ewWQyVVL
— HH Lifestyle Travel (@HHLifestyleTrav) April 15, 2019
Simultaneously so utterly sad & yet so beautiful- that the people of Paris have moved out into the streets to show their respect & love as they gently sing watching the Notre Dame Cathedral engulfed in flames. 💔#Paris #NotreDameFire pic.twitter.com/Meh6tSqh6B
— Dr Lauren Gavaghan (@DancingTheMind) April 15, 2019
The sight of Paris’s legendary cathedral of Notre Dame burning is tragic. The first block was laid in 1163 and completed in 1345. I feel very privileged to have glimpsed it two years ago. I hope they are able to restore it. #notredamefire https://t.co/tumXBCT9k3 pic.twitter.com/0iFSZYcWbD
— Leighton Smith (@LeightonESmith) April 15, 2019
“Notre-Dame is our history, our literature, part of our psyche the place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicenter of our lives,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “So I solemnly say tonite: we will rebuild it together.”
I, too, felt the sadness. I visited the beautiful monument during my one trip to Paris. And while I’m normally writing about pubs and clubs for PubClub.com, this was one place where I just had to visit.
It was awe-inspiring. The huge and gorgeously-painted ceiling, the stained glass windows, the tall walls, the incredible attention to detail in every aspect of the building and its artwork. Time stood still there, as did I for several minutes.
I loved it so much I could not get enough of it. I constantly walked around it during my time in Paris, to get all different angles. I sat town twice for lunch at the cafe right next to it, just staring at it. I would go and stand at the courtyard in front of its entrance.
It meant – still does, actually – to Parisians and tourists that thousands of them turned out in front of the cathedral as it was on fire.
This is a sad day for tourists and Parisians, but the outpouring of emotions on people from all over the globe is a shining light in an otherwise dark day.
Thank you and that, too, is a beautiful comment on this world treasure.
Great write-up! I too, on a couple of different occasions have stood speechless in the wonder that was Notre Dame. Bewildered at the majesty of the stained windows, 200 foot walls, the purple circular marble where Napolian was coronated, the artwork and simply the scent of history that radiated within.
My prayers were answered today when I learned that she was spared from total devastation! The two bell towers still stand and purported relics such as part of the crown of thorns, a nail from Christ’s cross as well as a piece of woods from the crucifixion cross were saved.
Being Catholic, the Cathedral is close to my heart but even Non-Catholics can’t help but be saddened by the near loss of this world treasure.