The years go by for the exceptional construction site of Notre-Dame de Paris.
The countdown is getting tighter and tighter.
“We will rebuild the cathedral of Notre-Dame even more beautiful and I want this to be completed within five years”, announced Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday April 17, 2019 at 8 p.m. during his televised address.
The President had promised it: he wants to rebuild the cathedral and he wants to do it quickly.
Hence his repeated and annual visits to the site.
This Friday afternoon, the Head of State still hopes to return the cathedral to worship in 2024. General Jean-Louis Georgelin, head of the public establishment in charge of rescue and restoration, is on the move.
But Emmanuel Macron puts gentle pressure with a first visit last year and a return to the site, three years after the tragic fire.
This time, it is "an opportunity for the Head of State to take stock of the progress of the construction site and to discuss with the companions and companies" who are working on the reconstruction of the monument.
With a more reasonable date: the end of the year 2024, December 8, 2024 more exactly, according to the diocese which hopes to celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception there.
“It’s a parenthesis”… in the countryside
Presidential campaign requires, Emmanuel Macron seemed to want to take his time to greet the craftsmen one by one in his gray outfit from which a blue tie pointed, accompanied by Brigitte Macron.
"It's a parenthesis," he says.
I am aware of the general mobilization that has been sounded.
There is a tangle of skills.
It is a mark of recognition for their work.
And in this period when we are emerging from the Covid, there is war in Europe.
Everything is difficult.
It is also a testimony of hope that corresponds to this period.
It makes a lot of sense.
It is being reborn.
Thinking about hope through these tangible signs brightens the day.
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Paris (IVe), this Friday.
Emmanuel Macron received from Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historical monuments, a model of what could be the future rooster that will be mounted at the top of the spire.
LP/Eric Le Mitouard
This Friday, April 15, the news is rather good.
Now “completely secure and consolidated”, according to the Public Establishment responsible for the conservation and restoration of the cathedral, today comes the long and delicate timetable for the work phase of reconstruction of the vaults and restoration of the chapels.
Objective: the allocation of the 130 lots essential to the progress of operations.
Ariel Weil, mayor (PS) of Paris Center, was delighted, for his part, with the forthcoming reopening of the Pont au Double, to reach the forecourt.
After putting the cathedral out of water by placing an "umbrella" over the gaping hole left by the collapse of the spire, comes the time for dust removal, desalination of the vaults and cleaning of the technical networks. .
In addition to the scaffolding wall already weighing more than 1,200 tons, another 600-ton iron structure will soon see the light of day in the heart of the church to allow the spire to be erected.
"We will begin to see it rise in the sky of Paris in 2023", assure the technicians of the site.
Read alsoNotre-Dame de Paris: three years after the fire, hundreds of people gather on the forecourt
Then, the frame will take shape.
Finally, the masons will work to reassemble the stone vaults.
“Incredible”, blurted the president before asking the technicians of Europe scalding if we know of another construction site with so many iron structures?
Incidentally, during the visit, Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historical monuments, offered the president and – out of diplomacy – the general, a model of what the future rooster could be that will be mounted at the top of the spire, more than 96 meters.
It will still require the approval of the various heritage commissions.
“Every time I come back, I experience this emotion”
“We all remember, three years ago, what we experienced.
And I believe that the fire of Notre-Dame was an immense emotion for Parisians and Parisians, for all Catholics around the world, underlined during his visit Emmanuel Macron.
Every time I come here, I relive this emotion.
To see the extraordinary progress of all the producers in France who bring the stones, the wood and who are mobilized proves that all this is progressing..."
Because it is from all over France that the 1,000 oaks needed to restore this spire, the transept and the adjacent bays are being sawn.
At the same time, the restoration of the chapels is progressing.
As for the great organ, it is being restored in Corrèze, Hérault and Vaucluse.
Throughout the country, craftsmen and specialists are busy.
A beautiful postcard of talents in the middle of the countryside...
