It was one of those news moments you always remember. Switching on the TV to see rolling coverage of Notre Dame ablaze. Notre Dame is France It is the nation wrought in stone and wood. It is the very soul of the French people. So, as their President said, France itself was on fire. In our country we have great iconic buildings as old and older than Notre Dame. They have great historical traditions and personify so much that is British. We love them as our own and feel that we share in a part of them. But none quite enjoys the mystical attachment to its people as Notre Dame does to the French.
It seems that heroic efforts by both the fire services and a salvagers that both the main structure and many, but not all, the treasures and relics have been saved. The world looked on aghast as the flames tore through the roof and the spire but the fact that all was not destroyed is a shared deliverance. Already the plan to rebuild and restore is being prepared. It will be a project to engage not just the enormous artistic and construction skills of the French people, but of those everywhere who can offer their talent in such an historic and worthy project.