Notre-Dame Burned. Now It’s Glowing

The inside of Notre-Dame is finished, and the world wants to see it. Whether you have a trip planned or you’re a couch-voyager, come along for the tour, which we took in August.

The fire, on April 15, 2019, was such a loss for this cathedral, known and loved throughout the world. And yet…there is opportunity in crisis. The country, the world really, came together to restore it. So many artisans and workers are proud to be involved in the ambitious restoration. And it looks better than ever. It looks different–the patina of centuries of use had to be partially scrubbed away, but still, the result is stunning.

What there is to see:

France collected a billion euros in donations, so there was a generous budget to work with. After five years of hard work, the inside is pristine. Every stone has been cleaned, statues repaired. The paintings are glowing the chandeliers are buffed and shining. The cathedral has been given a new life–prepare to be dazzled. And moved: the sight of it, polished and teeming with life, brought tears to my eyes. I saw more than one person openly weeping.

Fun fact: In its day, most of the surfaces were brightly colored. Some of this has been restored, especially in the series of small chapels off of the nave. All the paintings have been beautifully restored as well. You can see this in the photo at the top of this post.

Behind the altar is the Crown of Thorns, a priceless relic which was quickly saved by fire fighters. It is now placed in the reliquary of the Crown of Thorns, designed by French artist Sylvain Dubuisson.

Unexpected touches:

Many works of  (modern) art have been commissioned  for the cathedral. Seven new tapestries have been commissioned for the niches on the north side, for example. The strikingly modern baptismal font greets you in the nave. The altar cross, several meters tall and added in 1994 by sculptor Marc Couturier, is almost stark in its simplicity, but it has an amazing patina due to its gold leaf covering. Both the cross and the statue of Mary and Jesus at its base survived the fire, rising majestically from the ashes around them.

A Modern tapestry

The cross, viewed from behind.

And then there’s the outside:

Work is still on-going here, and the outside is covered with scaffolding and humming with worker bees. The highlight of the tour for Ron was checking out the story of the renovation, which was told with big posters with photos, lining the fence that protected the workspace.

Outside, the massive project continues

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Posters detail the fascinating work process.

We saw the exterior from the water on the Batobus.

And if you want some history:

An app called the Notre-Dame de Paris Tourist Guide gives a good quick overview. It looks like this:

And if you want to see how they restored it—a massive project— there are some good documentaries to watch. You might try The Rebuilding of Notre-Dame, by National Geographic.

What to know, if you go:

Before we went we heard stories of 3-hour waits in line with no ticket. Tickets are free but it’s a bit complicated to get them. The site is here. You can only get tickets 3 days ahead, and they release more every few hours. Ron tried for 3 days and managed, just a few hours before leaving on the day we went, to get a 9:30 ticket. We showed up at 8:30 actually, and got right in. But at this hour there was no line, even with no ticket, so early seems the way to go. At times there have been long lines and long waits, but it varies. But everyone I’ve known who goes early gets in easily. At 10am when we left, there was a long “no ticket” line, but it moved rapidly and the wait was short. I’ve also heard that an hour before they close is a good time.

There is no tour, you just go in and walk about. Ron downloaded the official app that had a 35 minute audio tour which included some history and a tour of both interiors and the outside. It was free and we stongly recommend it. It’s called ND and it looks like this:

We felt very blessed to have the opportunity to see it. I hope you will get a chance to do the same.

In the COMMMENTS: We are talking cheese! Our reader Francine Martinie Chough has a cookbook, she did a guest blog for us which you can read here. In her book , Bricks in a Pebble Sauce, you will find suggestions for selecting and serving cheeses for a cheese course. Vicky, Rosalyn Carter’s Cheese Ring was a new one for me. It looks a bit like pimento cheese (sans pimento) and I like the strawberry jam idea. Bonnie, I’ve heard of Fromage Fort (Strong cheese) but never pursued it because I’m a fan of milder cheeses (a lot depends I suppose on the cheese you use; if you throw in a big chunk of époisse, it’s going to be pretty pungent). But I understood the name better after reading Jacque Pepin’s recipe. Originally it was mixed together then thrown down into the cellar to marinate and ripen for a week!

Favorite READS: Our Loyal Reader, and voracious reader Natalia has a new book for us, for francophiles: From Provence with Love, a novel. And who doesn’t love Provence?

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