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Post by tremblinwilbury on Apr 16, 2019 7:36:40 GMT
The fire is probably out by now. I hope that what's left CAN be restored. It means a lot to the French people - and to so many more...
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Post by orioles70 on Apr 16, 2019 13:14:02 GMT
They'll have to assess the structural stability first, but for sure it can be rebuilt. I just hope they had it well insured, though I did read that some wealthy donors have pledged over 500 million (Euros?, dollars?) already.
It takes a long time to build a cathedral. And they won't have an easy time finding skilled craftsmen for the 800 year old building techniques. Some modernization of the design is called for. That will be controversial. Some will claim it is being turned into the Pompidou if they change the materials of construction.
But in 15 years time, we should be able to tour the repaired church. The process of adorning it with art and other embellishments never ends and the building will never be exactly like it was.
I wish the French well. Hopefully this unites them rather than divides. I'm seeing some ugly posts on the internet trying to pin the fire on Muslims even though the early evidence points in other directions.
even as children we learned that fires start from simple mistakes (Mrs O'Leary's cow comes to mind)
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Post by unomusette on Apr 16, 2019 20:21:47 GMT
It's a shocking catastrophe for such an iconic monument. But it's also heartening to see how quickly and how generously financial support has been offered, so it can be thoughtfully restored and will hopefully withstand whatever the next 900 years hold for it. It's been upgraded and rebuilt in parts a few times during its history so this is another phase that should add to its evolution and personality. I think there are some dunderheads online who would jump on the bandwagon and try to pin just about any disaster on Muslims. It looks as if unity and togetherness is taking the upper hand with the French who can rise above such scaremongering, bon courage to them
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Post by orioles70 on Apr 16, 2019 22:38:12 GMT
I just read that France is self insured for Notre Dame Cathedral. Perhaps it was impossible to insure? www.marketwatch.com/story/notre-dame-has-no-insurance-policy-2019-04-16?mod=mw_latestnewsAfter Notre Dame’s disastrous fire Monday, one big question was what sort of insurance policy could possibly be a backstop to help rebuild the 856-year-old world landmark filled with invaluable rarities? The answer: None. The vaunted cathedral has no insurance, a spokesman for the French Consulate in New York City told MarketWatch. France owns Notre Dame, just like it owns all religious buildings erected before 1905, he said. “The French State is self-insured for Notre Dame. It has no insurance. It is supposed to cover its own costs,” spokesman Paul Gadel said. He noted the French State “is charged with maintenance and renovation of those buildings, which it lends to the Church for free.”
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Post by Helmut83 on Apr 18, 2019 6:09:59 GMT
My first thoughts when seeing Notre Dame burn were more or less the same as any other's. It was quite a shock, you never expect to see those iconic monuments burning. Lots of historic and valuable pieces were lost forever and that's a pity.
But then, on seeing the fuss that it generated on the media, the crazy amount of donations (almost 1,000 million Euros by now, way more than enough), so much overacting and overreacting, etc... I thought "is it really so important?". Look, like I commented on another thread, I'm watching the Netflix documental series "Our Planet", which gives you a general but serious idea of how the world is being destroyed, to the point that we can't even be sure if it won't be over in 30 years time. I knew it before the documentary, as we all know, but the images and the data that it shows are shocking reminders of the progress of the destruction of our planet.
And that puts things like Notre Dame's fire in perspective. The importance of Notre Dame is symbolic, not practical. Let's be honest, except for Parisians (and not all of them), what all of us regret is that we won't be able to visit the old cathedral as tourists and take a few pictures there, or we'll have to do it in a rebuilt cathedral. That's all the interaction that 99% of the people who are regretting this ever had with the building. Whose life changes because of this? Whose lives are made miserable because of this? And even the few people whose lives change, how more miserable will their lives be because of this? How many deaths did we have to lament because of this? None, luckily no lives were lost! And if no one did it and it was just an accident, that's one less reason to be pissed. So is it really so important? I tend to think it isn't after all. When the world in which we all live is about to catch fire itself, what's the importance of half a church burning in France? As I see it it's a real pity in terms of culture, architecture and tourism, but not the tragedy of mankind that the media made it out to be. That's my opinion.
That being said, now that all that money was donated for reconstruction, I hope the Frenchies make the most out of it and build a nice thing.
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Post by orioles70 on Apr 20, 2019 17:12:43 GMT
One bit of good news- the BBC reported that the bees kept on the roof survived the fire. They merely had a long nap and then got back to business. 😄
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Post by unomusette on Apr 20, 2019 20:10:31 GMT
Excellent news indeed, we need as many bees as we can these days
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