On April 15, 2019, the roof of Notre Dame caught fire and collapsed. The cathedral has been closed ever since. Almost immediately came promises to rebuild exactly as it was and reopen within 5 years. These promises are almost fulfilled. The new spire was recently uncovered and looks much like the one in my photo from 2005. The cathedral is scheduled to reopen in December 2024, five years and eight months after the fire. (Paris Je T’aime, Friends of Notre Dame; Mad White; World, April 4, 2024)
I was fascinated by the fire and commemorated it in 2019 with one of my architectural dessert masterpieces. 1 As I mentioned in that post, I visited Paris in 2005 and was fortunate to have a connection to a guest organist. We were invited to experience the cathedral from the organ loft. A unique experience that I was distracted from enjoying fully for a number of reasons.
This trip was before I officially began urbantraipsing, but was one of the first places I unknowingly tested out the habit. It was also the first time I liked a city, a foundational necessity for urbantraipsing which paved the way for my return trip to London in 2012 where I explored adaptively reused churches and bridges.
I enjoyed the Paris trip immensely and before we left was looking forward to returning. There was much I didn’t get to see on that trip and bridges that I didn’t know I would need to document walking. One day, I will return with a more advanced camera and improved photography skills.
- Unfortunately, personal encounters with COVID have disrupted my intention to have an annual architectural dessert masterpiece over the last few years. I look forward to resuming the tradition one day. ↩︎
urbantraipsing 
I am pretty sure it was in 2005 that I travelled to Paris. I was with my sister from Montreal, who can of course speak French, and my mother, who had taught French in high school. My family had lived near an airbase in NE France when my dad was in the Airforce in the late 1950s.
We stayed a few days in the Parisian very hot May weather. We did not visit many famous spots though all is historic there.
I remember that the hotel was on Rue Tiquetone. I was nervous that there were no fire escapes. We enjoyed walking around. The little shops were so refined. We bought a parcel of candy wrapped with string.
Now, I really am averse to flying and have become too cautious to contemplate going overseas. Well..now it seems to be wartime once again, there is that. I still have a hope of becoming bold enough to travel afar again. My partner just retired so it is possible!
In 2005, we did go to Chartres and the wondrous cathedral. It was my second visit. I had been there when I took a tour in my late teens with much more of an adventourous spirit. I am glad you reminded me of visiting Paris.