France at its best, Notre Dame reopens (#1684694)

The reopening of Notre Dame on Saturday was a gathering of religion and ritual, heads of state and cardinals of the church, modest artisans, firefighters and proud billionaires, architectural beauty and a dose of fashion.

The immense sense of occasion was palpable, the atmosphere charged as some 2,000 great and good people gathered inside Christendom's most famous church.

Each seat in the first 40 rows had a card with their name on it. Right-wing heads of state and royalty; French prime ministers (three alone in the front row), cabinet ministers and a Bourbon princess on the left.

According to Matthew 19:24: “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” It is clear that sometimes it is also difficult for them to get a front row seat.

A dozen rows from world leaders, billionaires greeted each other: Elon Musk and John Elkann; Bernard Arnault and Francois Henri Pinault, chief executives and backers of rival luxury giants LVMH and Kering, who pledged €200 million and €100 million, respectively, to renovate Notre Dame immediately after the fire that nearly brought down the cathedral on April 15. , 2019. The seats placed Arnault and Pinault in the same row.

“I made the decision to give this gift that same night. And I visited Notre Dame the week after the fire with (Jean-Louis) Georgelin. They have done a great job,” Arnault explained, referring to the French general appointed to oversee the restoration before he died in a fall in the Pyrenees last year.

Beneath the beautifully restored Lutetian limestone columns, glowing bronze chandeliers and pink light from the rose windows, Arnault, who attended with his five children and his WAGs, reflected: “Notre Dame truly is the soul of France.”

In a remarkable display of generosity, private donations after the fire rose to 40 per minute, raising some €780 million. Apparently it leaves about €200 for future renovations.

The prelates walked before the altar in their new equally creamy and graphic vestments designed by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. The spiritual met the temporal, as bishops took photos of front-row place cards with their cellphones, highlighting President Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Jill Biden and Prince William as the most famous bold names .

Despite several public announcements to remove the phones, hundreds of iPhones were raised high to record Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the Ukrainian president entered to a two-minute standing ovation. Only surpassed by the five minutes of applause for the brave firefighter who had fought all night to save the two main bell towers. From where, the sound of the main bell resounded in a perfect F, indicating the beginning of the ceremony.

Many people had mocked Macron when he promised, the day after the fire, that Notre Dame would reopen even more gloriously within five years. With its spire collapsed, its roof fallen and its floor flooded, it seemed highly unlikely. But the French president kept his word, as evidenced by Notre Dame's phoenix-like rebirth.

One person who never doubted the project was Philippe Gourmain, founder of La Belle Foret, who sourced the vital 20-metre-long oak beams that served as the base for the roof. In total, more than 2,000 French oaks were used, topped with classic sheets of lead.

“In the beginning there was a lot of talk about the use of new technologies and methods. But once they made the decision to rebuild Notre Dame with the same materials and structure as before, I knew it would be possible,” Gourmain explained.

Dressed in a blue safari jacket with oak leaves peeking out of his breast pocket, Gourmain stressed: “Due to the ongoing renovations, we knew the building intimately, every inch of it. Therefore, we knew that if it could last 800 years, it could last another 800!”

Historically, construction of Notre Dame began in 1163 and took a century to complete. Napoleon had his coronation in the great cathedral, although it was Victor Hugo's classic literary novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” that probably sparked his international fame, later fueled by three Hollywood epics and a Disney animated film. Notre Dame is truly the great symbol of France, and will now be accessible via an app, with around 13 million visitors expected each year.

Cleaned with a latex solution, Notre Dame's once dirty chimeras, gargoyles, snakes and saints are now blonde. And its premiere couldn't have come at a better time for Marcon. Although caught in a domestic political maelstrom, with his fifth prime minister forced to resign last week at his side, Macron seemed supremely confident in himself. Indeed, the brilliant restoration was always a great victory for France and for the 2,000 craftsmen who worked to make the world's largest cathedral look more beautiful than ever. A welcome reminder that when the French unite and forget their differences, they can be quite an unstoppable force.

After the end and the last chords of the “Te Deum”, the audience was asked to remain in their seats until all the heads of state had left. Musk, however, accompanied by two thugs and two lackeys, ran towards a side exit.

Perhaps Elon had never read Proverbs 11:2? “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with humility comes wisdom.”