The fire that ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was “like a horror film”

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Five and a half years after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame, the world will once again have its eyes on Paris, this weekend December 7 and 8, 2024with many ceremonies pour celebrate the restoration of the cathedral.

A resident of Barneville-Carteret (Manche), Mireille remembers her end of the day on 15 avril 2019. Present in the capital, this retired urban planner returns with us to this tragic episodewhich had a great impact on her.

“I was coming back from Montparnasse station to go home, by bus,” she begins. The bus suddenly stopped. In the distance, there was smoke, but it wasn't really spectacular at first. In a few minutes, a monster traffic jam was created. The driver made all the passengers get off before the Pont-Neuf without giving us any further explanations. I continued on foot, on the bridge, looking at the smoke. »

I saw that this smoke came from Notre-Dame. I was very impressed. The fire then spread at a rapid speed. The flames appeared.

“I can still hear the crackling of the fire…”

By reliving the event, more than five years later, Mireille throat that tightens : ” I was paralyzedI thought I was in a end of the world horror movie. The crowd gathered on the bridge, began to cry, to shout. I called my mother who told me about “Les Miserables” when I was little. She was passionate about art, Gothic and Romanesque churches… I visited Notre-Dame several times with her. I needed to share with him this tragic event that I was experiencing directly. »

“Mom, Notre-Dame is dying,” I told her on the phone…

The evening was far from over in Paris. “I continued walking, I got closer, I arrived at the stairs of the city hall esplanade. Of the thousands of people were grouped together. They filmed, telephoned, experienced collective horror. We have seen more and more gigantic flames devour the building. »

The most striking thing – and I still have it in mind – is the crackling of the fire. It was terrible.

“The firefighters were arriving trying to send water. But it was not on the scale of the disaster. The flames devoured the Arrow. We were convinced that the Arrow would not hold up, that it would collapse, and in the end we were suspended in timeand this time seemed long… We stayed there in case a miracle happened. But finally, the Arrow fell…”

From our correspondent Chantal LECLERC

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