“Here we are. » This Friday, November 29, Emmanuel Macron is so moved to have won his bet that he did not want to wait. A week before the grandiose ceremony planned for December 7 for the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, to which around a hundred heads of state will be invited, the President of the Republic savors, alone, or almost, the fruit of the titanic work carried out by journeymen, craftsmen, carpenters, master glaziers, rope access technicians and other experts in historic monuments to restore the architectural jewel ravaged by flames five years earlier.
“How beautiful it is”he marvels, from the square in front of the cathedral, raising his eyes to the sky, as if to thank God, while the cameras intrude into the nave of Notre-Dame. Bare head, without helmet, here he wanders, dazzled, in front of the altar, under the framework, in the chapels, admiring the cleaned marble and the restored blondness of the building. Valuing each trade, he salutes the feat achieved.
Officially, this seventh and final visit to the site by Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by the mayor of the capital, Anne Hidalgo, and the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Laurent Ulrich and Philippe Jost, the president of the public establishment for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame – he replaced General Jean-Louis Georgelin who died in 2023 – aims to thank the patrons and the approximately 2,000 people who worked day and night night, near or far, on the structure reconstructed identically while respecting the methods of yesteryear.
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It is a tribute to French generosity and know-how. The end of a cycle, too, before the cathedral is “returned” to the Church. More unofficially, the event, described by the Elysée as a “day of brilliance”serves as a political platform for a president in need of recognition. The feat of Notre-Dame is also its own, supports the close guard of the Head of State who insists that it is “the president who gave the impetus”.
From the central aisle of Notre-Dame, in front of an audience of architects, logisticians, restaurateurs and carpenters proud to reveal to the general public the result of five years of work, Emmanuel Macron recalls the tragedy of 2019, this ” nightmare “, he remembers. The fire which engulfed the building had caused an international stir, provoking, in the prime minister of the time, Edouard Philippe, an attack of tremors which the person concerned confesses in his work Places that say (Editions JC Lattès, 2023).
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