Travel: Notre Dam is open in Paris, but it may be difficult to visit

I was glued to television earlier this month, like the countless other people around the world.

Reflecting the delicate 1905 political settlement that gave the French government’s Nutre Dame and other existing churches and cathedral ownership, the December 7th ceremony is the President of the France, President Emmanuel Macron in France. The pastor, Laurent Ulrich, was virtually jointly joined. Bishop Paris.

According to a spokeswoman at the cathedral, more than 260,000 visitors have been visited since the ceremony with President Donald J. Trump and many other high -ranking officials. She told about 35,000 visitors every day.

There is no doubt that there are two biggest feats in the repair of this Gothic style in the 12th century. Before the completion of time and the cathedral of the cathedral to take care of Eugene restoration in the mid-19th century, the fire on VIOLLET-LE-DUC and the fire on April 15, 2019.

The fact that the French government and various stakeholders were able to complete the recovery within the five -year deadline of Macron is the actual recovery that has survived, considering the plan, permission, and procurement of the contract. Needless to say, it’s surprising. Elementary elements and construction of damaged items. According to the AP communication, there are nearly $ 150 million surplus retained for future works.

In contrast, major expressways or bridge projects exceed the budget, contrasting with US projects that take more than 10 years to complete. Again, the restoration of Notre Dame was a Macron pet project. With political issues, the completion of the cathedral has become a reputation for the suffering of the fifth Republic.

My chance to visit has come to Christmas. I was planning to spend a long time in Paris.

The cathedral gave me access to a regular off -limit loft on the west end of the nave. The loft is a place where the largest 8,000 pipe organ in France is located.

What surprised me most was how well everything was. Restoration -century stained glass, organ, side chapel, flight battress, etc. -The bones have recovered so that the bones are broken. Other elements, such as the towering safe and wood roofs, were reconstructed exactly as before. Next, there are limestone walls and pillars of the nave. These are carefully cleaned to remove smoke from the fire, and have all the burning candles and the developed green blue that developed from the liturgy incense. The stone is very white and looks like heaven.

One exception may be a new altar, part of the critics compared to the salad bowls, the bishops of the bishop, the cathedra, and the furniture of other lituries. The modern design is not a copy of the medieval Gothic style or the 19th century Gothic Revival.

The oldest church in Paris is not as impressive and old as Notre Dam. The distinction belongs to the church of Saint -Germain Despe. Also, it is definitely the most beautiful thing. Some may claim the point of supporting Sanchienne Du Month Church on the rare Renaissance Ludo Screen.

Still, Notre Dame is definitely the most important part of the city of light. The year before the fire in 2019, it was the most visited place throughout France, with 12 million visitors. Even visitors who are not cooperating with the Roman Church have something about it. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine what it will be if the cathedral is rough and rebuilt in a terrible modern style.

The access is at best challenging, so those who want to visit should probably wait for a while. Many Americans I spoke called mixed OTICs and added that they could not spend a long line for two or three consecutive days.

During every day, regular visits outside the masses were limited during Christmas. I think that will be the case with Easter. In fact, restricting visitors to services did nothing to shorten the line or promote Roman Catric’s faithful access. It seemed that most of the secular visitors wanted to be inside. It is obviously a problem. Many of the people who confessed and tried to receive the sacred sacred brevi were refused to enter the country when a secular visitor filled their seats.

Other famous churches and cathedrals understand more efficient and effective systems to manage religious and secular visitors. You have to have a better way than the current approach of Notre Dam. The sacredness of the Roman Catholic mass or the ritual of any church should not be considered a kind of cultural art performance for tourists.

While the inside of Notre Dame is over, the appearance is still partially covered in the scaffold. A large structure crane sits quite high on fresh. This is a sharp spire of copper chicken duplicating the 1859 spire of Violet-Le-Ducc. His spire was built after the 13th century original was dismantled in the 18th century. It will take several years for the exterior to end.

If you go

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary -a wide range of dedication to the French cathedral -official French name, CathéDraletRedamedeDamede Paris, is translated into English as a cathedral of Virgin in Paris. Opening hours are from 7:45 am to 7:00 pm on Friday to 7:00 pm (extended to 10 pm on Thursdays), and Saturday and Sunday 8:15 am to 7:30 pm.

The online scheduling system is regularly overloaded, but visitors can reserve a time slot in advance. Importantly, admission is not charged.

Additional visit information is on the official notes website.

Dennis Lenox is writing a Christian post travel column.