Memories of the night Notre Dame Cathedral burnt down
The sight of Notre Dame ablaze against the evening sky is seared in the memory.
April 15, 2019. Dateline: Paris. “That black smoke isn’t from Notre-Dame, is it?” I asked our waiter. “Non, Madame” he replied, too quickly. Then a double take, and he was urgently checking his iPhone.
We had been sitting in the courtyard of a little cafe for only 10 minutes, when the clear blue sky was dimmed by what could have been black clouds and a strangely red sun. “Isn’t it too early for sunset ?” I asked my companion. Earlier we’d met our guide for a walking tour of the Latin Quarter and Sorbonne in front of Notre-Dame de Paris. We’d passed the cathedral again at 6pm and there’d been a queue waiting to enter and sightseers taking photos.
By the time we’d had dessert, we could see flames on the horizon. Even then there were no emergency sirens, just a surreal black and crimson silhouette of towers against an early evening sky. We were drawn down to the bank of the River Seine where a strangely muted crowd was already gathering. When the 19th-century spire fell sideways, there was a shocked group intake of breath and, as the tower crumbled, some people started to cry. Others took selfies in front of what was now a real sunset, so there were two balls of fire on the horizon.
Finally we could hear sirens and see fire engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, even a police barge, meandering on the deserted river. We could make out the cathedral’s burning wooden frame but somehow the rose window glowed, intact.
Another hour passed before we left. We needed the concierge and TV news to confirm what we’d witnessed. When our train pulled out of Gare de Nord 24 hours later, we felt like traitors for not remaining to hear church bells ringing out in solidarity all over Paris.
French president Emmanuel Macron has announced Notre-Dame will be at least partially open in time for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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