The Soul of Notre Dame
After Five Years Notre-Dame Cathedral Opens Again
Straight from my long masked flight
At 2 PM Eastern on December 7th, you may hear church bells tolling around the US. While no church is an island, they’ll be doing so in a gesture of unity for the cathedral that sits on one, Notre-Dame of Paris.
After a vast reconstruction effort, its doors will open again to the public. The amalgamations of old and new are numerous in the project, yet one story in particular was quite striking. It was that of Olivier Chandez, the official clocksmith of the cathedral. In episode 85 of Duolingo’s French Podcast, Olivier tells of the manual clock that ran perfectly for 150 years up in la forêt, the wooden beams of the church.
Unfortunately, it was consumed in the fire. For him the clock was the soul of the space. Losing it was a personal tragedy. Though they searched, no blueprints were found. Pictures were all they had in an attempt to restore it.
That is until his colleague, Jean-Baptist Viot, made a miraculous discovery some 2.5 miles away. Buried in Sainte-Trinité church was a copy of the clock from the same clockmaker. What was lost, a copy had been found. You’d imagine their faces were like Principal Skinner’s when Ralph Wiggum brought a box of pristine Star Wars figures to the Diorama-rama event. “They’re all here!”
You’d also guess they could just plop in the giant copy into Notre Dame and call it a day, but it was 40 cm bigger. And the clock was not included in the budget for the restoration, even though they had called for the cathedral to be restored as it was before the fire.
In 1914, five blocks in West Orange, NJ burned to the ground. It was caused by Thomas Edison’s lab, which also succumbed. Over 20 million in today’s dollars were lost, including one of a kind prototypes. Edison, in clocklike fashion quipped, “I am 67; but I am not too old to make a fresh start.”
And in the same spirit, Olivier and a group of watchmakers and artisans have since created the Horloge Notre-Dame, an organization working towards documenting and rebuilding a mechanical replica of the clock.
And while Notre-Dame may not have its clock yet when it reopens, it’s recommended you still use one to make a reservation. At least for the time being.
Continue the Crawl
Seven Years Since the Fire at Notre Dame
I decided to take a walk out to île de la cité to see Notre Dame, the first time I would see it since its reopening.
Rebuilding Notre Dame
“It was like the Matrix,” Dr. Jennifer Feltman explained, showing us pictures of the scaffolding that climbed into the heavens inside Notre Dame.
Paris is Burning, Again
While growing up, my dad told me the side with the flying buttresses was his favorite side.
