These two craftsmen from Lot took part in the renovation project of Notre Dame de Paris

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Monday April 15, 2019, France and the world are dismayed and watch the flames devastate Notre Dame de Paris. A catastrophe planetary! That same evening, authorized radio and television comments are already looking ahead to reconstruction. “We will not be able to restore the oak frame, we would have to deforest, the diameters of the oaks of yesteryear practically no longer exist…” say “specialists” who speak in the media.

Today, we can say that the medieval framework of Notre Dame, destroyed in the fire, has been restored identically using ancestral know-how thanks to the generosity of many and Heritage enthusiasts. Among them, two artisans from the Lot.

Oaks squared with an ax

September 2023: the “Forest of Notre-Dame” rises again before our eyes, drawing the skeleton of the burned cathedral. The artisans shine. The wood of the thousands of beams smells good.

1,500 oak trees were felled in French forests to rebuild the medieval framework.

Once cut, all the trees became logs and were squared with an ax to form beams. This was, among other things, the work of Benoît Bouchard and Édouard Cortèstwo artisans of the Lot “went up to Paris for Notre-Dame”. No electric saw but sixty axes forged by hewers like those used by the carpenters of the 11th century^e century.

The tree, a discreet link between God and men

The tree becomes a symbol, a tangible sign of time defied, of an eternity understandable by the life cycle of the tree while this notion of eternity goes beyond human intelligence. The tree, whose wood constitutes the framework of Notre-Dame, will be present, discreet, essential for centuries and generations. Thus the tree becomes the link between God and men.

If, like us, he transforms, after us he will continue to live. It is a living sign of a certain eternity.

A time of hope for these new cathedral builders

For four months, a team of eighteen carpenters worked by hand. Unheard of since the dawn of time. Redoing a frame like in medieval times was just incredible.

These carpenters recruited for their expertise quickly teamed up. The tight deadlines and the passion for both wood and the “Notre-Dame project” galvanized them.

“Several years of work, challenges to overcome but great moments of joy for the work accomplished.” “I see the frame being erected every day and each sunrise is more beautiful than the day before.” “Whether we are believers or non-believers, we contribute to a rebirth”: these are some of the testimonies received.

Why does Notre Dame touch the hearts of so many people?

If since 2019, so many people of all faiths and even without particular religious affiliation, have been affected, it is because this building is the visible sign of an invisible reality. That is to say, the cathedral is the visible replica of this invisible space which lies within each of us. Every human being lives from within himself and carries within him a part of the sacred. So much so that when we see its visible sign flaming, we all perceive that something is collapsing within us.

For 850 years, Notre Dame de Paris has witnessed the greatest moments of our history. Believers or not, “the French are attached to this place of worship, celebrating even in its contradictions the unifying idea of ​​a nation-cathedral” concluded Fabienne Lemahieu on November 14 in the newspaper La Croix.

May in the future, Notre Dame be from a global point of view, the place or sign of the consolation of men. Given the current international context, the tensions and anxieties experienced by so many people in the world, Notre Dame must, overcome by its ordeal, become the visible witness of hope.

The testimony of Lotois Benoit Bouchard

Benoît Bouchard, carpenter from Lotparticipated in the reconstruction of the framework of Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. He tells.

Why were you chosen?

I had the opportunity to participate in the Notre Dame project through a friend from Angers who had contacts in the Perrault workshops in Angers (company which obtained the contract to redo the framework). I applied to participate as a knacker. The knacker starts from a freshly cut tree, to cut a beam, all with an axe, specifically a doloire. Being a carpenter, my profile was selected.

What was your first feeling upon your arrival?

When I got the phone call confirming that I was scheduled to render, I was really happy and proud. Then, an inner stress invaded me in the face of the grandeur and nobility of the task. So I was called in January 2023 to cut the beams of Notre Dame. Surrounded by 10 to 20 people depending on the workload, the project in Angers lasted a year with 8 to 10 months of rendering.

What did you have to leave behind to work for the cathedral?

I had to leave the Lot to come to the Angers workshops. This great adventure of leaving wife and children is a challenge. Especially since I was in the process of setting up on my own. But I made time for Notre Dame. It was the unknown. Having been a sailor, we know departures and it didn't bother us that much. From Angers, the entire work was dismantled to be reassembled at the cathedral. We followed the framework until its final installation. We celebrated the work accomplished by placing a bouquet of flowers at the top of the apse as is the tradition of the carpenters' corporation when a project ends.

As a Christian, how did you experience it?

What I took away from this site were the encounters: the majority of the knackers I worked with were not Christians at all. But they were there for the beauty and to restore the cathedral to its initial splendor. These are precious memories in my heart. Today, the Church institution is in turmoil and finally here, Christ uses those who are furthest from him to rebuild his house: it is a lesson in humility that the Church must remember if it wants to continue to announce Christ.

What will you remember from this time spent on the roofs of Notre Dame?

I took full advantage of this time: walking in the footsteps of all these men and women who built France, the great Men but above all the unknowns who made up the human paste of our History and our Christian civilization is filled with emotions. A common history, a unique history that today we would like to smooth out and sanitize. To enter into a 1,000-year-old history, into the history of a profession, into the history of the Church, into the history of our country, what an honor! In this respect, it is a project that I will remember for a long time!

It is a source of pride to have one's name inscribed in the rooster which, at the top of Notre Dame, watches over Paris and France. I hope that my life brings me other encounters, other projects full of hope like this!

André DECUP

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