Jedes Jahr denke ich, so, dieses Mal aber echt nur ein kleines Bäumchen, aber dann komme ich doch wieder mit einsfuffzich Nordmann nach Hause.

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Die NYT hat einen schönen Artikel zur Restaurierung von Notre-Dame, die gestern wiedereröffnet wurde. Wer keine Lust auf den Text hat, kann sich an den guten Animationen erfreuen. (Gift Article)

A Miracle: Notre-Dame’s Astonishing Rebirth From the Ashes

„I made it to the roof, where workers were securing the rebuilt spire and new rafters. Jean-Louis Bidet, the technical director of Ateliers Perrault, one of the French companies in charge of the carpenters, told me that each oak tree had been selected to match the contours of the ancient beam it would replace.

The tree was then carved to duplicate the peculiarities of the hand-tooled silhouette of the original, with the medieval carpenter’s mark even tattooed back onto it.

“Faithful” only began to describe the effort, which was not for show. The public won’t get to see the rafters that are now behind the restored ceiling vaults. I spoke with workers who came and went in the pop-up container village behind the apse, which had become headquarters for the restoration and where some of the 2,000 laborers, mostly French but some from elsewhere, picnicked under the trees during lunch.

“Each day we have 20 difficulties,” Philippe Jost, who headed the restoration task force, told me. “But it’s different when you work on a building that has a soul. Beauty makes everything easier.”

I can’t recall ever visiting a building site that seemed calmer, despite the pressure to finish on time, or one filled with quite the same quiet air of joy and certitude. When I quizzed one worker about what the job meant to her, she struggled to find words, then started to weep.“

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Wo wir gerade beim Weinen sind: Hier mein fünf Jahre alter Blogartikel, der nach dem Brand entstand, als meine Tränen einer gewissen Genervtheit gewichen waren.