The national forest of Bercé (Sarthe) was there, from the very beginning, to provide its trees for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
And it did not take thirty-six questions to the head of the ONF (National Forestry Office) of Sarthe to find out who could cut down, with precision, the eight oaks of Bercé for the restoration of the Viollet-le-spire. Duke of Notre-Dame de Paris. Only the Pichon brothers, Michel and Daniel, had this capacity without the slightest risk for these bicentennial oaks. We did not encounter the slightest difficulty. The work was easy for us and the conditions were good
the loggers humbly remember. But it was the presence of hundreds of curious people and media that rather impressed us. We even appeared on TV.
From experience, they have: It's been forty years since we started this logging activity, particularly in Bercé.
Since this date, these men have often been questioned by visitors about this moment when they brought down, on March 8, 2021, these eight oaks previously hammered by the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, and in the presence of Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin , Minister of Culture.
They will watch the inaugural ceremony of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral on television, Saturday December 7, 2024, with a certain bitterness. No, we did not receive an invitation for this ceremony. Maybe we'll have one for December 15th.
That day, at 10:30 a.m., a mass will be celebrated for the Paris firefighters, the companions and all those who worked on the site as well as the faithful. We would have liked to see what happened to our oak trees.
Certainly declared as a donation, the Pichon brothers carried out this operation voluntarily.
The job of lumberjack is very difficult, sometimes thankless, and poorly recognized. If this exceptional project could contribute to promoting this forestry activity and attracting candidates, we would be delighted,”
concludes Hervé Daviau, NFB head of the territorial unit.
