Paris, 15th April 2019, 6:43pm.
Inside the ancient cathedral all is quiet. Afternoon light filters through the stained glass.
A fire alarm pierces the silence.
Within minutes, flames tear through the oak roof. Eight centuries of timber explode into an inferno visible across the city. Parisians gather on the Seine’s banks as the spire collapses through the nave in a cascade of embers.
Hours later, the French President stands before the ruin: “Cette cathédrale, nous la rebâtirons.”
This cathedral, we will rebuild it.
On 8th December 2024, five years and seven months after the fire, Notre-Dame reopens, its spire restored, the rose windows gleaming once again.
London, 10th April 2019, 3:47pm.
Five days earlier, it’s a bright spring afternoon in west London.
On Hammersmith Bridge, traffic inches forward, suffocated by congestion. Above, the suspension chains creak under the weight of queuing cars. Cyclists weave between wing mirrors. Beneath the footpaths, invisible cracks spread deeper into the 132-year-old pedestals.
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