On 15 April 2019, disaster struck Notre-Dame. The 850 year-old medieval Catholic cathedral in Paris had a catastrophic structural fire, collapsing the spire and roof. It was closed 5 years for restoration. When we heard the cathedral was reopened to the public in December 2024. we jumped at the opportunity to see it. We planned the France portion of our trip just to see this historic landmark. It was not easy to get tickets to view the interiors though. There is only one official site, and tickets are only available online 1-2 days before entry. Added to this difficulty to get access, the cathedral was partially closed to visitors in April in remembrance of Pope Francis, who had just died. We were fortunate to get a time slot.

We were told that it would take at least another 3 years to complete the exterior. We did not see any of the gargoyles from before; just construction cranes outside. The restoration is expected to cost $928 million, and they were able to raise one billion dollars for the work. No one has been charged with starting the fire. Some suspect it was started in the roof from faulty wiring, or smoldering cigarette butts from a scaffolding crew.

More than a 1000 artists from around the world were hired to restore the interiors. We saw no fire damage inside. The structure and artwork was immaculate. We were shocked to see that the interior looks like there had never been any damage. In fact, it looks far better than it did prior to the fire, when we saw it a couple decades ago. At that time, centuries of soot and grime dimmed the colors, which were now as vibrant as we expect it was when first built. Three Americans were part of the restoration team.

Fortunately, most of the main Cathedral building did not burn. Therefore, much of the original art work was saved.

22 paintings were taken down from the chapel a day after the fire, and delivered to restoration artists. Some were smoke damaged, but otherwise unharmed by the catastrophe.

Seeing how well the Cathedral was restored was one of the highlights of our Paris experience. We visited Notre Dame decades ago, and expected a damaged cathedral looking dark and old, as it was on our first visit. With the restoration, we could see the brilliance of the original ight and art.

The video shows some clips from our city tour from the sidecar of a vintage motorcycle, and tap dancers busking at the metro station in Montmartre. There’s always a lot to do in Paris.