Notre Dame update

That is awesome news. My husband has promised to bring me back to Paris when the restoration is complete. ( we have other places planned in the meantime )

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for the update. We are hoping, not planning just yet, to go to Paris early October.

Right now on Nova, a program is running on the progress todate. It is going to be a long time.

Thanks for the info. Things are increasingly optimistic, but as with so much lately, time is needed. Hoping there’s time to see France, Paris, the 2 trips that got missed this year, etc. Notre Dame in Paris is a metaphor for pretty much everything now. Happy Travel Dreams, and best of luck to everyone while we await better times.

Saving Notre Dame is now streaming on PBS. NOVA plans to do one such episode per year updating the progress. It's going to be decades likely before it's fully restored. Macron rejected proposals to modernize elements of the rebuild and instead opted for traditional materials.

Excellent news! Thanks for the link!

It was such a good program on Nova. It just seems to me that while all fires are dangerous, obviously, the urgency and energy used to put out a fire should be in direct proportion to the centuries it took to build the building that's on fire! Is it just me?! From the footage I've seen, there just didn't seem like there was any urgency at first to get the fire under control. It just breaks my heart to see it so damaged but it's comforting to know they are trying to restore it.

From the footage I've seen, there just didn't seem like there was any
urgency at first to get the fire under control.

This is not true at all. The fire department took extraordinary efforts to try and fight the fire. Please understand that by the time they arrived, due to delays in detecting and reporting the fire, it was already out of control. It takes more time to assess the situation and develop a plan to fight it. Their hose streams could not easily reach the roof due to the height, and there are few ways of getting personnel and equipment up to the attic. They were also very concerned that if the vaults failed, the entire structure could collapse. They did have the ability to try and prevent it from spreading to the bell towers, and were successful at that. Crews also went inside, at huge risk, to retrieve precious objects of faith and art. The crews should also be commended for not blasting out the stained glass windows with their hose streams.

Utter incompetence was involved in allowing the fire to get out of control. Renovation is a known hazard and yet they didn't keep it under 24 hour surveillance and then had an untrained person on duty who didn't respond appropriately. The first fire alerts were basically ignored for half an hour until it was through the roof. The person 'checking' on the alarm didn't go to the spot where the fire was merrily burning at the time stopping it might have been possible. It was a predictable event that they utterly failed to prepare for and then it was immediately handled with utmost incompetence.

By the time fire fighters got there it was totally out of control. It is a wonder that no one lost their life fighting the fire and saving the towers was by a hairs breadth -- they almost lost the whole thing and only with extraordinary bravery were the towers saved. The management of the renovation and of the Cathedral are much to blame -- the fire fighters did the best they could.

Easy to place blame after the fact and from a few thousand miles away, but it doesn’t change the outcome of what happened and serves no purpose. The NOVA program is only one perspective of what happened. Hope the restoration goes well and is completed close to on time.

I'm looking forward to visiting Paris (and other parts of France) when governments decide we are allowed. Maybe we can fly to Turkey and walk there?

@janettravels44: well said. It is utterly amazing that none of the firefighters died saving Notre Dame. About 30 minutes into the blaze I saw a news headline and immediately turned on my TV. I watched it burn for hours, couldn't stop crying. The firefighters are truly heroes in the very best sense of the word

Thanks to those who posted about the Nova video. It was fascinating, but sad. Everyone who loves medieval cathedrals needs to watch this video. The "digital insurance policy" was especially interesting.