The terrible Notre Dame fire happened a year and a day ago — on 4.15.19. I visited the site roughly five weeks later. The fire was almost certainly caused by some guy working for a scaffolding company but we’ll never know who or how because the government of President Emanuel Macron won’t want to prosecute anyone, which would provoke the proletariat.

Wiki excerpt: “Macron has announced that he hopes the reconstructed cathedral could be finished by Spring 2024, in time for the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics. The first task of the restoration is the removal of 250 tons of melted metal scaffolding tubes. This stage began in February 2020 and was to continue through April 2020. A large crane was put in place next to the Cathedral to help remove the scaffolding. The stained glass windows have been removed from the nave, and the flying buttresses have been reinforced with wooden arches to stabilise the structure.”

On 3.15.20 the work was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No date has been set for starting up again.