My guess is there is a very worried French sparkie hiding somewhere in the Paris area who forgot to switch something off... Truly a shame to see such an amazing place suffer such damage.
It's a really big deal over here. 3 of France's richest families have pledged over 700,000,000€. All of the major French companies like Total have pledged at least 100,000,000€. Tonight on telly there is a version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire" raising money. The President was on telly pledging to have it fully rebuilt within 5 yrs etc etc.
I don’t doubt it is a big deal but uniquely it is State, not Church, owned. The repair costs will be a rounding error in French State accounts......
I agree Steve, but that's what Mr Macron said, almost with tears in his eyes. Personally whilst I think it's quite sad that this magnificent building has been so badly damaged, it doesn't bring me to tears quite the reverse. Imagine all the artisans who will be involved in putting this back together, if they can? However there's still no engineers structural report on the condition of the two main towers and the flying buttresses. Apparently it has been estimated that the stone structure has been subjected to temps in the region of 1,000° C !!!
We were in Paris last year on a family holiday and visited Notre Dame, I feel quite privileged that we managed to see it as it was. I also visited the world trade centre in 1999, perhaps it’s the Hamburg family curse.
Hmmm, Cromwell had Durham Cathedral used as a POW camp after the Battle of Dunbar. Hundreds, if not thousands, died. Many of these buildings have chequered histories.
Tis a shame, such a historical loss, but may be G-d is trying to tell "The Church" something about its massive wealth which is not shared with the unfortunate of The World.
Something interesting.... a chap did a television program about Notre Dame over a year ago, that included a walk around the roof and bits were falling off everywhere - the assessment a year ago was that restoration would cost 110 MILLION euros (which we all know because of the nature of these things would be far more than that in the end)... Notre Dame is apparently owned by the state, not the Church, so the French government would be responsible for the cost, not the Catholic Church. Knowing about how an aircraft hangar mysteriously caught fire a day or three after massive corrosion was found on the wing spar of an aircraft in it, towards the end of a heavy maintenance check; so the insurance paid for a new hangar, the value of the aircraft, and happily all the paperwork was destroyed in the fire before it was scanned onto computer.... Knowing how a London hotel caught fire just after they found big structural issues right at the end of an extensive refurbishment.... Call me a conspiracist if you like but I am honestly not sure that the Notre Dame fire wasn’t more massive international fraud than an accident.
The Catholic Church has PLENTY of money. They can well afford to rebuild it on thier own dime. They have been fleecing the public for centuries. ...J.D.
I agree... But as its technically owned by the French state, they have an instant get out clause. They won't pay. How do you think they keep their wealth? By making everybody else pay, one way or another.
