When asked to create a Paris itinerary and touring plans for individual travelers, I respond with questions:

What are your interests, hobbies and ages? Have you been to Paris before? Where are you staying? Are you in decent walking shape or have any mobility issues? Do you speak much French? Do you have any dietary restrictions? Do you drink wine? Will you want for shopping (for anything in particular?) or simply stop into boutiques if anything strikes your fancy along the way? Do you have a sense of how much guided time you’d like? What are you looking to get out of your stay in Paris?

Altogether, the answers provide me with information that ensures not only that that my clients won’t be over-walked or over-museumed, under-shopped and under-wined. They also allow me to imagine creative ways to enable them to visit sights, explore neighborhoods, understand history, experience culture, and satisfy their hunger and thirst in ways that are meaningful, rewarding and enjoyable to them.

Many clients will give cursory responses to my questions then cut to the chase, saying:
– We’re not museum people but want to see highlights (definitely Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower), or
– We like learning history and seeing different monuments and architecture (and we want good pastries, of course) but want to keep it relaxed, or
– Here’s the list of what my 18-year-old daughter/granddaughter wants to do.

The most common response, however, goes something like this:

We want to visit the main sights without having to wait in line. We don’t mind touring on our own but would like some guidance. We like walking but also want to take breaks. We want local food experiences but don’t need anything fancy. We want to try great pastries, and we are wine drinkers, in moderation. Can you help us?

I certainly can!

If you identify with that request, here’s my nearly personalized itinerary for you, including a selection of major sights, varied neighborhoods, easy-going bistros and brasseries and bars, and GPS-guided audio tours to steer you as you go.

Day 1: Feel the Pulse of the Historical Heart of the City then Stroll Along the Champs-Elysées

Morning
Arrive at Notre-Dame Cathedral by 9:30am (or in any case no later than 10am) to enter with little wait (entrance is free, and stop panicking about a timed reservation!) then walk the length of the City Island on which it stands, past the former royal palace, through charming Place Dauphine, and to the sublime river views as you cross the Pont Neuf (the New Bridge). Next bridge upstream, set out on an essential visit of the central Right Bank with my VoiceMap audio tour Exploring Paris of Dreams and Nightmares: The Dark Side of the City of Light.

Lunch
As you follow that audio tour, sample Paris from any of the many cafés, bakeries and other tempting and tasty eateries along the route. (You can pause the tour at any time.) Or wait until the end of the tour for lunch. Here are three welcoming options within a several blocks of the tour’s endpoint: the uber-traditional, easy-going Bistrot des Halles, the cozy and historic brasserie Le Zimmer, and the upbeat wine restaurant Le Robe et Le Palais.

Afternoon
Stroll the full-length of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées—including visits to the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and perhaps several shops along the avenue—accompanied by my audio tour The Champs-Elysées: from Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. At tour’s end, climb the Arc de Triomphe for a sweeping view over Paris (ideally with a pre-purchased, timed ticket or Paris Museum Pass). Then metro over to Trocadero for a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower.

Evening
Head to a lively neighborhood to raise a glass or two at the joyfully old-fashion and inexpensive wine bar Le Baron Rouge. Prefer a beer? Fishtail around the corner to the character-filled Troll Café. Then stay in the neighborhood spirit for dinner at one of the numerous eateries in the area. Consider L’Ami Pierre, if you dare, for a plunge into Paris bistro life by night or Jouvence for a neo-bistro experience. There are also plenty of pizzerias, cafés and other inexpensive eateries in the neighborhood.

Day 2: Linger on the Left Bank then Meander in Montmartre

Morning
Begin your explorations of the central Left Bank in the Latin Quarter, where student life meets the Parisian bourgeoisie on alluring streets. Peek in at the food shops and stands at Maubert-Mutualité to get a sense of neighborhood market life. Visit the tomb of Saint Genevieive in the beautiful Saint Etienne du Mont Church. Take in the imposing and important Pantheon (avoid the line with an advance ticket or a Paris Museum Pass). Then leave the city streets to take an enchanting stroll with my audio tour of The Left Bank’s Most Elegant Park: Exploring the Luxembourg Garden so as to take part in the lifestyle of the Left Bank that is the Luxembourg Garden.

Lunch
Sample excellent French produce, cheese and more at the Saint Germain Market and nearby bakeries (Maison Mulot, Secco) and pastry shops (Arnaud Larher, Pierre Hermes). Or saddle up for wine and light snacks (call them tapas if you like) at Avant Comptoir du Marché.

Afternoon
Complete your visit of the central Left Bank with a walk through the Saint Germain Quarter, the chic, charming and boutiquey neighborhood that thrives at the heart of Parisian café society. Then head to Montmartre, starting at the metro station Abbesses or Anvers, to climb the hiil to Sacré Coeur before taking a well-earned seat for a drink at the hill’s historic eatery-drinker La Bonne Franquette. Then wind your way down along Rue Lepic all the way to the Moulin Rouge.

Evening
Stay within the atmosphere of Montmartre with dinner at La Mascotte Montmartre for fresh fish and seafood and other fine brasserie fare.

Day 3: Meet Mona at the Louvre, The Thinker at the Rodin, Napoleon at the Invalides, and peek in at luxury boutiques in between

Morning
View Mona and more at the Louvre Museum (get a timed reservation for 10am at the latest and brace for the crowds), then air your mind from your heady art history experience with a noble garden walk with my audio tour The Tuileries Garden: The Royal Walk from the Louvre to the Champs-Elysées.

Lunch
Keep it simple and full of character for lunch at Le Petit Vendôme, a busy bistro where where Parisian joie-de-vivre meets tourist joy-of-travel.

Afternoon
Before and after lunch, go window-shopping in the lap of luxury on Rue Saint Honoré and Place Vendôme. Then head over to the Rodin Museum for an easy-going, sculpture-spotted stroll in the park, along with a coffee stop in its garden café. Enter the museum itself, if in the mood, for a thorough view of Rodin’s work. Then visit Napoleon’s Tomb nearby and, if so inclined, the medieval armor portion and more of the adjacent Army Museum.

Evening
Discover casual, modern, moderately-priced Parisian gastronomy in a neighborhood not yet visited above. Here are some suggestions: L’Oyat, L’Escuella, Aux 2K, Caillebotte, Petit Boutary. Then augment the evening at a jazz club such New Morning, Sunset/Sunside, Duc des Lombards, Caveau de la Huchette.

Be sure to check opening times for all of the suggestions above.

Looking for an even more customized itinerary and personalized touring? Contact me directly for travel therapy by phone and more.

© 2025, Gary Lee Kraut

The post Three Days in Paris: Your Nearly Personalized Itinerary appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

But I’d like you to remove your rose-colored glasses for now as I lead you into the shadows that are the subject of my new VoiceMap audio tour Paris of Dreams and Nightmares: The Dark Side of the City of Light. Along with the charm of its route through the central Right Bank of Paris, this is an unflinching journey through France’s dark past, where torture, assassination and terror are among the building blocks of the beauty that surrounds you.

The route passes major landmarks, vibrant streets, inviting cafés, alluring pastry shops and boutiques, soaring churches, and the playful Stravinsky Fountain, as it reveals both the enchantment of the present and the cruel events of the past.

Watch this video introduction before reading on.

These aren’t ghost stories or legends that I tell; these are historical events that shaped Paris as you see it today. In understanding the terrible building blocks of the City of Light, you’ll gain an important appreciation for how its beauty and brutality have coexisted throughout history.

Here’s one location covered on a tour, a memorial garden inaugurated in the summer of 2025:

The Dark Side of the City of Light now joins my VoiceMap audio tours to the Luxembourg Garden, the Tuileries Garden, and the Champs-Elysées as another of my essential self-guided walking tours to major aspects of Paris and its culture, splendor, history, and life today.

Though VoiceMap is primarily designed to provided GPS-guided audio tour for use on site, I’ve uploaded photos for each of the tour’s locations to allow armchair travelers to fully follow along. So you can listen from your home computer or your iPhone or Android anywhere even if you don’t have Paris plans. Then use the downloaded tour again whenever you do make it Paris.

The VoiceMap Touring App is available from the Google Play Store and the App Store. On your home computer just go to VoiceMap.me. Once you’ve signed up with VoiceMap and purchased the full tour, you can listen to it on your phone, tablet or computer, or all three, on site, on the road or at home.

Even without signing up, you can listen to the first three locations before deciding whether you want to download the full tour.

If, after downloading the app, you don’t land directly on one of my tours, you’ll find them easily by searching “Gary Kraut” in the VoiceMap search block, or by clicking or tapping directly on the author’s page of these Paris audio guides.

© 2025, Gary Lee Kraut

The post Paris of Dreams and Nightmares: Exploring the Dark Side of the City of Light appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

On the one hand, I have a natural aversion to recommending virtual reality tours for travelers. After all, we travel to be someplace, not virtually but actually. On the other hand, virtual reality tours, in addition to being entertaining, can be informative and insightful when there’s a historical or otherwise important unseen component to complement and enhance a visit to the real deal.

Virtual historical reality tours will become increasingly immersive, seamless and sensorial in the years ahead. As they stand, aside from their entertainment value, do they help travelers on site understand and further appreciate what they’ve come to see?

Curious about the added value of the virtual historical reality tours now available within actual sight of three major monuments in Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre I took a test run of their respective magic goggles on site. For Notre-Dame that meant in a subterranean zone one hundred yards in front of the cathedral. For the Eiffel Tower that meant during a stroll along the Champs de Mars, the park that leads to the tower on Paris’s Right Bank. For the Louvre that meant a walk from one end of its courtyard to the other.

All three proved to be both informative, entertaining and recommendable as complements to actual visits inside of these important monuments.

Eternal Notre-Dame: Amaclio Productions’ virtual reality tour of Notre-Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame is currently inaccessible to the general public, as it has been since the fire of 2019 destroyed its roof and steeple. The cathedral is scheduled to reopen in December 2024, though under what conditions is not yet known. The virtual reality tour, reached from an underground entrance at the far end of the square in front of the cathedral, is currently programmed to end on September 30, 2025.

Following along with a handsome, well-spoken electronic guide (choose your language), the virtual reality tour of Notre-Dame leads visitors to the doors of the cathedral then inside, through various steps of the building’s medieval construction, 19th-century restoration, and current rehabilitation. It’s an extensive tour. In 45 minutes, while walking and turning in all directions, visitors get a close-up view of the structure inside and out, from various heights, while encountering works and learning about its elements in stone, glass and wood. Visitors “ride” a platform to the upper reaches of the cathedral to stand near a rose window and then higher to visit “the forest” of oak rafters and beams that form the wooden framework, those elements that burned during the fire of 2019. Details are also given about medieval Christianity and the structure’s theological underpinnings. All is made understandable to a wide public.

Altogether, this is an excellent tour that’s as visually compelling as it is informative. And complementing the virtual tour, visitors then visit at their own pace an exhibition about the current renovation and reconstruction. Objects and models along with explanatory panels and interviews in French and in English provide visitors with a clearer understanding of elements touched on during the virtual tour: recreating the wooden framework of the forest, restoring stained glass, the grand organ and the bells, replacing stone vaulting and sculptural elements, and conducting research.

The combination of the virtual reality tour and the exhibition afterwards make for an exceptional and entertaining introduction to the cathedral for those with little prior understanding of the construction and current restoration of the cathedral and is equally fascinating for those already acquainted with Our Lady of Paris. The virtual tour last 45-minutes, to which you need to add departure time and time to visit the post-tour exhibition, so count 70-90 minutes altogether.

I recommend getting a good look at the façade of Notre-Dame and a side view as well before taking the virtual reality tour. Then, after the virtual tour and exhibition, now armed with a deeper appreciation and understanding of the architectural and artistic glory of the cathedral, reconsider the actual façade, take a walk around the full perimeter of the building, and, of course, enter to admire the Notre-Dame’s dazzling restoration and luminous interior.

Practical considerations

There’s a cost to virtual reality tours that may be prohibitive to some. The experience at Eternal Notre-Dame costs 30€99 for adults and 20€99 for children under 17, though on certain days and times adults pay the children price, particularly off season.

Groups of up to six people set off together at the same time, with individual headsets speaking in your chosen language. Each person wears a headset and carries a backpack containing what is essentially a laptop computer while walking along the underground maze. Precise instructions and indications keep you moving and prevent you from bumping into other visitors. The glasses/headset adjust well and the tour is captivating enough that it’s easy to forget the equipment and enjoy the walk. However, the backpack is bit cumbersome, and for anyone with a bad back, carrying it for 45 minutes may be uncomfortable.

Brief pauses between scenes within the virtual universe can be momentarily confusing, but the lit path and your virtual guide will return soon enough to point you in the right direction as you walk.

The minimum recommended age is 11, though children as young as 8 may be admitted. However, given the weight of the backpack and the need to precisely follow lit directional indications so as to avoid bumping into walls and, especially, other visitors, this virtual reality tour may not be appropriate for a small and fidgety preteen. Or you can hold your child’s hand as guidance.

For further information and reservations see Eternal Notre-Dame.

Eternal Notre-Dame was produced by Amaclio Productions, a company that has developed other virtual reality and sound and light shows in France, including at the Invalides in Paris, the Cité de l’Histore at La Défense (Eternal Notre-Dame is also available at that site), Mont Saint Michel, and the Carrousel of Saumur.

Viality Tour’s virtual reality and actual walking tour near the Eiffel Tower and in the courtyard of the Louvre

While Viality Tour’s virtual reality tours of the Eiffel Tower and the courtyards of the Louvre don’t have the same high production value as Amaclio’s well-financed Notre-Dame tour, what makes it worthwhile is that these tour has its iconic monuments in plain view and is given by actual human guides, and delightful ones at that. The tour was developed by the young start-up team of Vladina Flaquière and Michel Dang. One or the other may be your guide.

The Eiffel Tower: The goggle-wearing virtual portion of the tour takes users through the construction of the Eiffel Tower from 1887 to 1889 and into the Universal Exposition of 1889 for which it was built. Much of the exposition sprawled along the Champs de Mars, the very park where you’ll be walking. The Champs de Mars formerly served as the parade grounds for the nearby Military Academy (Ecole Militaire).

Vladina or Michel or an assistant rather than an avatar is your actual guide. Speaking French or English depending on the scheduled or private group, your guide explains what you see in the goggles as you stand and turn in 360 degrees. You do not walk while wearing the goggles. Instead, between virtual scenes, you then remove the goggles and approach closer and closer to the actual tower. During that time, the tour continues with the actual Eiffel Tower in view as your guide provides further details about what you see today and answers any questions you may have. So this is both a virtual and an actual tour, lasting about 75 minutes, accompanied by your affable guide and with numerous photo ops along the way.

Vladina has worked as a licensed guide at various chateaux in Brittany, the Loire Valley and Versailles, before teaming with Michel to develop Viality Tour. She continues to guide at Versailles. Michel, the equally affable tech half of the team, holds a masters in marketing and worked as a junior product marketing manager with Netgear before he and Vladina partnered to create Viality Tour. Michel does the computer modeling with the assistance of a graphic designer as well as the team’s communications work.

With or without actually going up in the tower, this is an excellent introduction to it. If unwilling to deal with the tickets, lines and crowded elevators, the Viality Tour—both its virtual and actual realities—can serve as your informative visit in and of itself.

If interested in the Viality Tour and also planning to go up the tower, try to sync the two by scheduling the Viality Tour so that it ends 15-30 minutes before the timed ticket you’ve purchased (well) in advance to go up. That will allow for a nice segue from one to the other while allowing you time to go through the security line at the tower. (Viality Tour will not purchase your Eiffel Tower ticket.)

The courtyards of the Louvre: As much as I appreciated Viality’s Eiffel Tower tour, I found their Louvre tour even more interesting and informative. Visitors to the museum are typically unaware of the Louvre’s evolution over the past 800 years from fortress to castle to palace to museum, and even less aware that it was once connected to another palace, the Tuileries Palace. On an outdoor walk with several virtual reality stops from the far eastern end of the Louvre to nearly its far western end, this tour guides visitors through various eras of the construction of the Louvre and the Tuileries, up until 1871, when the latter was set ablaze by the Paris Commune. You’ll near forget the hundreds of people queuing up for the museum and milling about… until the end when you join them.

You don’t have to join them just yet, however, since the Viality Louvre tour make for a nice complement to the audio-guide that I’ve created to the Tuileries Garden for the VoiceMap app, The Tuileries Garden: The Royal Walk from the Louvre to the Champs-Elysées. The Viality Tour ends about where mine starts, with minimal overlap.

The Eiffel Tower tour lasts about 75 minutes. The Louvre tour last 10-15 minutes longer. Each costs 29€ for adults and 19€ for children 8 to 17. Children under 8 are not accepted. Groups can consist of up to 10 people.

For further information and for the tour schedule see the Viality Tour website. Though the indicated language of the tour may be French, it may also be conducted in English, so inquire about that possibility when reserving. With sufficient advance planning, privatization for your own group may be possible upon request.

Vladina and Michel plan to extend the Viality Tour concept to other major monuments of the city over the coming years.

© 2024, 2025 Gary Lee Kraut

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As we watched the flames rise and the spire fall on Notre-Dame Cathedral on April 15, 2019, those who lived in or had visited Paris before felt a nearly personal sense of loss. Notre-Dame was truly “our” Lady, whether beheld with the eyes of a Catholic or not. Even among the hundreds of millions who saw images of the conflagration but hadn’t yet had the pleasure of visiting the French capital, many spoke of the event as a calamity or a tragedy. Many would wallow in those feelings for days.

But for some, there was little time for heartache. The fire was a call to action—for firemen, the president and government officials (Notre-Dame belongs to the French state), Catholic Church officials, historical architects, scaffolders, logisticians, restoration specialists, foundation managers who would accept pledges and funds amounting to 840 million euros (940 million dollars at the time), lumberjacks, quarriers, etc., and journalists and photographers as well. I, myself, took a call from NBC Philadelphia the night of the fire. But once the (lead) dust had settled, media entrance to the cathedral was carefully limited.

Among those who repeatedly gained access to the wounded monument from 2020 to 2024, few journalists covered the restoration project as thoroughly as Sophie Laurant, senior history and cultural heritage reporter for Le Pèlerin, a weekly Christian general news magazine, France’s oldest continually published magazine (1873).

Even fewer, if any, photographers were authorized to enter the worksite as frequently and extensively as Stéphane Compoint, an independent photojournalist specialized in architecture, cultural heritage and aerial photography, and a World Press Photo winner, tasked with Le Pèlerin to cover the restoration project. Stéphane had earned his stripes as a photographer of Notre-Dame well before the fire; in 2013 he’d made major photographic study the cathedral for a special edition of Le Pèlerin, producing photographs that became precious historical documentation of the state of the cathedral before the fire. From the date of the fire until its reopening, he photographed Notre-Dame on 63 occasions from the inside and nearly as many times from outside.

Several days after the reopening of the cathedral to Catholic and non-Catholic visitors alike on December 8, I had the opportunity to interview Sophie and Stéphane, in writing. As you will read in the combined interview below, theirs is a precious testimony to the restoration process and to its technical achievements, its emotional impact, and the collective and individual investment involved, including their own.

(The original, French version of these interviews can be read here.)

Gary Lee Kraut: In your work you demonstrate an acute sensitivity toward heritage sights in general and religious heritage sights in particular. You’ve undoubtedly visited all of the Gothic cathedrals of France? But before examining these structures with the eyes of a professional journalist and photographer, what was your relationship with these magnificent mastodons of the Middle Ages? Do you recall the first time that you visited Notre-Dame?

Stéphane Compoint: A Parisian forever, I grew up in the 6th arrondissement. My grade school and high school were near Notre-Dame. The cathedral has always been a part of my immediate landscape.

My family was rather secular, even anticlerical. But my maternal grandfather drew closer to the God of the Catholic religion after the tragic death of his oldest son (my uncle), who died from drowning while trying to save a friend, who survived. He therefore became a believer and started going regularly to mass, often taking me with him to churches in the neighborhood (Saint Germain des Près, Saint Sulpice, Saint Séverin, Notre-Dame des Champs, Saint Germain l’Auxerrois, along with Notre-Dame) ever since I was a child. At the very least that taught me to be patient because at six years old mass can seem long. If I was well-behaved, I’d get a box of Legos afterwards!

Sophie Laurant: I grew up in Bourges, a lovely medieval town located in the very center of France. The town has one of France’s most beautiful Gothic cathedrals, built starting in 1195. It rose slightly after Notre-Dame (whose construction was launched in 1163) and is a contemporary of Chartres. Furthermore, my father was a history professor and often gave tours of the monument, of which the inhabitants are quite proud, whenever friends or family were visiting. So I learned at a young age how to distinguish Gothic art from Romanesque art. My father explained to us that Bourges was famous for the red of its stained-glass windows whereas it’s the blue of Chartres that dazzled. He pointed out that our cathedral, unlike most, didn’t have a transept but the shape of the overturned hull of a boat.

I don’t recall the first time that I visited Notre-Dame de Paris. It was undoubtedly with my parents when we went up to Paris as tourists. However, I do remember that when I was a university student [in Paris] I went in one Sunday afternoon when I was feeling quite lonely in the capital. By chance I arrived just when the traditional weekly organ concert was going on. It was magnificent. I went back several times afterward, especially since it was free, which is a blessing for a student.

Gary Lee Kraut: Where were you on Monday April 15, 2019 when you learned that Notre-Dame was in flames. How did your evening unfold?

Stéphane Compoint: I was at home, heaving with sobs! But I quickly got into a long phone conversation with Catherine Lalanne, the editor-in-chief of Le Pèlerin, which projected us both into the immediate future and into action, which did me a world of good. Because it was Monday, the day the weeklies go to press, we had to put in place an appropriate editorial strategy right away, modify the issue due to come out on the following Thursday, and launch a special edition that would be published the following Friday. We didn’t get many hours of sleep that week, but at least we were working rather than sitting passively faced with the enormous loss.

Sophie Laurant: While I was in the metro on my way home from work, I received a text from a colleague, but I didn’t realize how serious it was—not until I reached the foot of my building and got a call from my editor, Catherine Lalanne. She’d just asked that the deadline for our weekly edition going to press be pushed back since it was on its way to the printing press, as every Monday evening. She just had time to insert a large photo and a caption. I then followed the events on TV, while at the same time speaking with a friend who does restorations of historical monuments who explained to me that the outbreak of a fire is the nightmare of companies that restore roofing frameworks. I didn’t turn off the TV until it was clear that the monument had been saved. And the next morning I intentionally took a bus to work that passes by the cathedral. I had to see with my own eyes that it was still there. I even took a picture through the bus window to reassure myself. As soon as I arrived at work, we decided to republish our special edition that we’d brought out in 2013 for the cathedral’s 850th anniversary, adding in updated information. For each copy sold, 1€ was donated to the Notre-Dame fund. We sold 33,000 copies and therefore, from the start, had the feeling that we were being useful. It was important to overcome the disaster. Moreover, the architects [responsible for restoring Notre-Dame] asked to consult Stéphane’s photographs, which at that point had become historical documents.

Gary Lee Kraut: When were able to enter Notre-Dame for the first time following the fire? Tell us how that unfolded and about your impressions.

Stéphane Compoint: Despite its status as a Christian weekly, the negotiations between Le Pèlerin and the state’s media communications directors for the restauration project to allow me to enter the site were difficult. Finally, our salvation came from General Georgelin* himself, the person overseeing the cathedral’s restoration, a believer who was sensitive to the mid-elevation photographic work that I’d done with a tethered balloon in 2013 for the 850th anniversary of the cathedral. We gave him large prints of these photographs and he decorated his office with them. I was able to enter the wounded cathedral for the first time on March 3, 2020, ten and a half months after the fire.

Sophie Laurant: I finally went inside Notre-Dame on October 21, 2020. During the first year [after the fire] the teams were busy with decontaminating the lead and consolidating the cathedral. Also, under the management of General Georgelin, a very strict, top-down administration was put in place to filter press requests. Luckly, Le Pèlerin had published in 2013 a special edition magazine entirely devoted to Notre-Dame, prepared with assistance from the clergy. Stéphane was able to enter for an initial post-fire photo reportage in March 2020. Catherine than insisted—incessantly—to the general and to the communications services for the restoration project that Le Pèlerin wanted a print journalist to be able to enter. They finally accepted for us to become “partners,” allowing us to regularly follow the rehabilitation in pictures and in text. I didn’t go often, but more than most other media.

I have an indelible memory from that first visit of climbing scaffolding, of the incredible view over Paris that then revealed itself. When I reached the top of the walls of the cathedral, I had a view of the charred beams that were still stuck into the angles of the crossing of the transept. That’s all that remained of the base of the spire! It was then that I fully realized the extend of the task that lay ahead.

* GLK note: Notre-Dame Cathedral belongs to the French state and so it is the state’s responsibility to maintain the edifice. The day following the fire, President Emmanuel Macron announced his wish that the reconstruction be complete within five years. General Jean-Louis Georgelin was appointed to spearhead the project the next day. General Georgelin did not live to see it reopened since he died in a hiking accident on August 18, 2023.

Gary Lee Kraut: Carrying out the research necessary for the restoration project gave specialists the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the building and its history. Were there any discoveries or analyses that particularly surprised or impressed you?

Sophie Laurant: Yes, the researchers were the first to mobilize, immediately after the fire. At the Association des Journalistes du Patrimoine*, we quickly organized press encounters with some of them. Their primary message was the following: “We have a lot of information about Notre-Dame and we have to put it to the service of the restoration.” Immediately, the architects** asked them to take sample, to carry out analyses and studies, to make surveys and collect data throughout the monument in order to document as much as possible all of the elements, including the debris. These details studies enabled them to refine their restoration strategy. For example, to select a limestone very similar to the origin when cutting new stones.

Over those five years, the specialists discovered enormous amounts of information about Notre-Dame. For example, that the walls were consolidated by enormous iron staples. We didn’t think that that technique had been so used in the 12th century.

But the most spectacular discovery is undoubtedly the uncovering during the archeological digs at the crossing of the transept of high-quality pieces of sculptures from the medieval jube [also known as a rood or choir screen in English]. That decorative wall enclosed the church’s chancel, separating the sacred space where mass was said from the more secular space of the nave where the public came to hear (but not see) the service. Catholic liturgy evolved in the 16th century, prompted by the Protestant Reform movement. Jubes were destroyed in almost all churches and cathedrals in order to bring the clergy and the congregation closer together and allow a better understanding the ceremonial rites. However, since the sculpted figures represented Christ, Mary, the Apostles, etc., the workers had the habit of piously burying their pieces on site as they removed them. That’s why archeologists have found pieces of the jube in many cathedrals, such as in Bourges or Chartres. What’s incredible here at Notre-Dame is that sculptures retained colors that would have been lost if they’d stayed in contact with the air inside the building. On certain figures from the Gospels, we see that they have blue eyes or a delicately pink complexion, as in illuminated manuscript from the period. It’s magnificent! They’re now exhibited at the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages in Paris. I also learned that one of the heads found during prior work on the cathedral in the 19th century, and that’s now found at Duke University in North Carolina, fits perfectly with a bust that was found in March 2022. For a project called “Notre-Dame in color,” the American researcher Jennifer Feltman is pursuing research with French colleagues to gather together the different pieces.

Stéphane Compoint: As a photo-journalist I’ve participated in many campaigns of archeological excavations throughout the world (Egypt, Turkey, Peru, Chili, etc.), including underwater excavations of the Lighthouse of Alexandria from 1995 to 1997, for which I won a World Press Photo. I was particularly moved by the discovery of the medieval jube in the spring of 2022. Seeing the face of Christ, eyes closed, emerging from the archeologists’ large and small brushes in the middle of the crossing of the transept is something that I’ll never forget. I also remember the reaction of the chief archeologist, who was right next to me at that moment: “The greatest emotion of my career!” Since I was the only press photographer on site that day, it gave me even greater professional satisfaction.

* GLK note: The Association des Journalistes du Patrimoine is France’s association of journalists covering all manner of cultural heritage. From 2016 to 2022, Sophie Laurant served as its president. Gary Lee Kraut served as the association’s secretary general 2016-2020. Stéphane Compoint is also a member.

** GLK note: In France, historical monuments are preserved by specialized architects known as “Architectes des Bâtiments de France.” These civil servants entrust restoration projects to other specialists, the “architectes en chef des Monuments historiques.” Philippe Villeneuve is the chief architect in charge of the cathedral restoration project.

Gary Lee Kraut: Over the course of your respective work, you’ve met many craftsmen, workers and managers of the restoration project, in Paris and throughout France. Are there any whose approach or personality particularly impressed or fascinated you?

Sophie Laurant: They were all high-level, passionate craftsmen. I especially appreciated meeting the painting restorer Marie Parant, who coordinated one of the groups that restored the paintings in the chapels of the choir of Notre-Dame. A great admirer of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc*, the architect who painted them in the 19th century, she invited me to visit her workshop near Bastille to show me documents and help me understand the quality of the colors. She also participated in the “chorale des compagnons,” a chorus consisting of all those who took part in the restoration, whether archeologists, logistic specialists, stone cutters, etc. The chorus sang inside the cathedral on Dec. 11, [several days after its reopening,] to celebrate the working community that they formed together. We could sense a real “Notre-Dame effect” that had unified them, a mix of pride with respect to the monument, of the joy of working on a common project, and a fervor for something greater than themselves individually.

I was also struck by the strong personality of Loïc Desmonts, a young lead carpenter (only 25 years old!), who’s redeveloping in Normandy the art of building wooden framework using medieval methods. He and his team cut wood while it’s still green using hand tools. He also promotes the “French-style scribing tradition in timber framing,” which is a way of creating on the ground a full-scale drawing of each piece of the frame before cutting it. That tradition of scribing has existed since the 13th century and is recognized by UNESCO on its list of “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.” While visiting him, I met members of the NGO “Carpenters Without Borders.” Among them were two American craftsmen who spoke to me with tears in their eyes of their love for Notre-Dame, the reason that they came to France to give a hand to their French colleagues. There are in fact very few carpenters anywhere in the world with the know-how to cut the framework in the way it was done back in the day.

Finally, there’s Iris Serrières, a stained-glass artist who works in the company run by her mother, the stained-glass restorer and creator Flavie Vincent-Petit, in Troyes [100 miles southeast of Paris]. When I met this deliberate and joyful young woman, she was hesitating between becoming a theologian and a master glassmaking! Maybe, she said, she could do both. The family workshop restored a portion of the cathedral’s 24 upper bay windows. The two women shared with me their feeling about being a part of a long line of master-glassmakers and of rediscovering how and continuing “to combine intelligence, gesture and spirituality” so that “these windows were again legible.”

Stéphane Compoint: I was impressed by the encyclopedic knowledge that Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect, has of the monument and by the sound way in which he made decisions that were crucial but far from obvious in the days following the fire. I also appreciated the personality of the head scaffolder, Didier Cuiset, whose academic training is limited but whose know-how is exceptional. Like many journeymen, he comes from a modest background and was brought up with little inclination to speak of oneself, but he had to learn how to explain what he knows and how he knows it in order to satisfy the media. He made a lot of progress in five years.

*GLK note: Viollet-le-Duc led a major restoration of Notre-Dame in the middle of the 19th century. In doing so, he also added new elements, some of which existed but in different forms over the centuries, including the spire that collapsed during the fire and has since been rebuilt.

Gary Lee Kraut: Was there a moment during your journalistic or photographic work inside the cathedral that particularly surprised you or that has left a lasting impression?

Sophie Laurant: There was one moment that I’ll remember for a long time. It was in the spring of 2022 when I decided to interview the crane operator who was piloting the crane from 80 meters (262 feet) overhead. The crane was there throughout the entire project. In order to reach him, I had to take an elevator up to a tiny platform, 60 meters (197 feet) up, and from there climb a caged ladder the final 20 meters (65 feet) before reaching his heated and comfortable cabin. I had vertigo from the start, and I was afraid of stopping paralyzed in the middle of the ladder, suspended in mid-air. I decided that I’d rather give up on attempting the final ascent, because if ever I blocked ongoing work due to a panic attack, I undoubtedly would never be given permission onto the site again. The crane operator, very much at ease up there, offered instead to conduct the interview on the tiny platform! I wasn’t so calm there either, but I didn’t dare refuse. So in the cold and the wind, with the crane lightly swaying, I gathered my courage, avoided look down at the miniscule workers working down below on the temporary roof of Notre-Dame, and I asked him my questions. I’m rather proud to have succeeded because at home I have vertigo on a stool!

Stéphane Compoint: In the summer of 2020, at the end of a day photographing inside the cathedral, at one-thirty in the morning, I was struck by an unexpected encounter with the top of the charred spire imbedded in the exterior curve of an arch of the nave. I’d entered the building at 7:30 a.m. and hadn’t eaten or drunk for 18 hours, but that vision, that photo, was well worth the effort! In the fall of 2020, I also had that first long-awaited overall exterior view that took in all of the devastated wood framing, which I was able to take thanks for a giant tripod (of my own creation) that I’d raised about 15 meters (49 feet) above the devastated transept crossing.

Gary Lee Kraut: Do you feel that the public was sufficiently informed throughout the rehabilitation period? Did you encounter any difficulties doing your journalistic work?

Sophie Laurant: In the end a lot of articles were written. The entire international press covered the project, from near and from far. It’s true that the public powers overseeing the project were selective in choosing media that could enter the site and they limited access. Some of the reasons are understandable. The cathedral was entirely covered in lead dust. We had to get entirely undressed in a special chamber, put on a disposable boilersuit, and take a shower and shampoo when we finally left, like all workers who enter a “contaminated zone.” Furthermore, the project had to be done in five years, so the teams didn’t have much time to devote to the press. Clearly, it was difficult for the journalists to endure, to have to incessantly request authorization to interview anyone involved in the project. But at Le Pèlerin we had the privilege of being able to follow operations on a regular basis. I entered the cathedral seven times over five years. Stéphane entered far more frequently.

Gary Lee Kraut: Sophie, you wrote most of the text and, Stéphane, you took the photographs for the special edition of Le Pèlerin about the “exceptional construction site” of Notre-Dame published to coincide with the reopening of the cathedral. Does this signal the end of the Notre-Dame adventure for you or will you continue to report on and photograph Notre-Dame?

Stéphane Compoint: After the reopening, Le Pèlerin will naturally reduce its written and photographic coverage of the construction site. Nevertheless, work will continue for about another three years on the exterior of the cathedral, particularly around the apse and the buttresses of the nave and the chancel. We’ll try to be present at key moments during that work.

Sophie Laurant: We’re going to continue to follow the restoration which is now focused on the chevet [east end] and gables of the cathedral, outside. Stéphane will also try to exhaustively document the cathedral as it today, as he did in 2013. And we’re going to be very attentive to the choice of master glassmaker who will be designing new windows for the southern side of the nave; the installation of contemporary tapestries in the northern chapel in the next 18 months; the upcoming creation of a museum decided to Notre-Dame in the Hôtel-Dieu [the old hospital that occupies one side of the square in front of cathedral], and the square itself that will be entirely remodeled and modernize so as to allow for a better reception and flow for visitors. We’ll likely be publishing many of these reports on our internet site over the coming years.

Gary Lee Kraut: Having followed the restoration these past five years, has your view of the cathedral changed?

Sophie Laurant: Yes. I now know it very well, whereas before it was just one of many cathedrals that I didn’t enter very often before the fire. And I remember its grey walls, the semi-darkness, the crowds. Now it’s blond, clean, extremely well lit, and that showcases the paintings (now all cleaned) unlike in any other church in France.

Stéphane Compoint: The first thing that changed in my view of the cathedral was that I was better able to measure the extent to which the work of the builders of the 12th and 13th centuries is full of technical achievements. Being able to listen to lead architects speaking often and at length on site is worth any number of lectures in a lecture hall. I therefore learned a lot of fascinating things about a field—architecture—that has always interested me (my father was an architect). And the way I see Notre-Dame has changed because we’ve gone from a dark cathedral to a luminous cathedral, and, like many photographers, I like the light! Finally, I know that from now on I’ll see images of the expert craftsmen and journeymen at work superimposed onto my actual view whenever I visit the restored cathedral, and that’s a privilege.

To learn more about Sophie Laurant’s journalistic work, see here. 
To learn more about Stéphane Compoint’s photographic work, see here. 
Entrance to Notre-Dame Cathedral is free. Timed reservations are not required but can help avoid long lines, especially during busy periods. For a timed reservation, see here. 

© 2024 Gary Lee Kraut / France Revisited

The post Notre-Dame: An Interview with Witnesses to a Dazzling Restoration appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

En regardant les flammes s’élever et la flèche tomber sur la cathédrale Notre-Dame le 15 avril 2019, ceux qui vivaient à Paris ou l’avaient déjà visitée ont ressenti un sentiment de perte presque personnel. Notre-Dame était vraiment « notre » Dame, qu’elle soit vue dans les yeux d’un croyant ou non. Même parmi les centaines de millions de personnes qui ont vu les images du sinistre mais n’ont pas encore eu le plaisir de visiter la capitale française, beaucoup ont qualifié l’événement de calamité ou de tragédie. La plupart ont éprouvé ce sentiment de perte durant des jours.

Mais pour certains, il n’y a pas eu de temps pour le chagrin. L’incendie a été un appel à l’action – pour les pompiers, le Président et les représentants de l’Etat (Notre-Dame appartient à l’État français), ceux de l’Église catholique, les architectes des monuments historiques, les échafaudeurs, les logisticiens, les spécialistes de la restauration, les responsables des fondations qui ont accepté puis géré des dons s’élevant à 840 millions d’euros (940 millions de dollars à l’époque), etc. Même activité intense chez les journalistes et les photographes. J’ai moi-même reçu un appel de la chaîne américaine NBC Philadelphie la nuit de l’incendie, mais aucun média ne pouvait entrer dans la cathédrale durant ces premiers moments. Et même plus tard, lorsque le risque d’inhaler de la poussière de plomb a diminué, l’entrée de médias a été très soigneusement limitée.

Parmi ceux qui ont pu entrer à plusieurs reprises dans le monument meurtri entre 2020 et 2024, se trouvent la journaliste Sophie Laurant et le photographe Stéphane Compoint, tous deux travaillant pour Le Pèlerin, un hebdomadaire chrétien d’informations générales, le plus ancien hebdomadaire de France à être publié sans interruption depuis sa fondation, en 1873.

Peu de journalistes ont été autorisés à pénétrer dans la cathédrale pendant la période de restauration aussi souvent que Sophie Laurant, grand reporter histoire et patrimoine au Pèlerin. Et encore moins de photographes ont obtenu des autorisations aussi fréquemment et aussi largement que Stéphane Compoint, photojournaliste indépendant spécialisé dans l’architecture, le patrimoine et la photographie aérienne, et lauréat du World Press Photo, chargé par Le Pèlerin de couvrir le projet de restauration. Stéphane avait gagné ses galons de photographe de Notre-Dame bien avant l’incendie puisqu’en 2013, il avait réalisé une étude photographique majeure de la cathédrale pour une édition spéciale du Pèlerin, produisant des photographies qui sont devenues une documentation historique précieuse de l’état de la cathédrale avant l’incendie. Entre la date de l’incendie et la réouverture, il a photographié Notre-Dame à 63 reprises de l’intérieur et presque autant de l’extérieur !

Quelques jours après la réouverture de la cathédrale aux visiteurs—catholiques et non catholiques—le 8 décembre, j’ai eu l’occasion d’interviewer Sophie et Stéphane, par écrit. Comme vous pourrez le lire dans l’entretien combiné ci-dessous, il s’agit d’un témoignage précieux sur le processus de restauration et ses réalisations techniques, sur son impact émotionnel et sur l’investissement collectif et individuel, y compris le leur.

Gary Lee Kraut : De par votre travail vous avez une sensibilité aiguisée pour le patrimoine en général et pour le patrimoine religieux en particulier. Vous devez bien connaître toutes les cathédrales gothiques de France. Mais avant de voir ces édifices de l’œil d’un journaliste professionnel, quel était votre rapport avec ces magnifiques mastodontes du moyen âge ? Vous rappelez-vous de la toute première fois que vous avez visité Notre-Dame ?

Stéphane Compoint : Parisien depuis toujours, j’ai grandi dans le 6ème arrondissement, mes collège et lycée étaient très proches de Notre Dame : la cathédrale a toujours fait partie de mon paysage proche !

Ma famille était plutôt laïque, voire anticléricale… Mais mon grand-père maternel s’est rapproché du Dieu de la religion catholique après la disparition tragique de son fils ainé (mon oncle, donc), qui est mort noyé en voulant sauver un ami, lequel s’en est sorti. Il est donc devenu croyant, s’est mis à aller à la messe régulièrement et m’emmenait très souvent dans les églises du quartier (Saint Germain des Prés, Saint-Sulpice, Saint Séverin, Notre Dame des Champs, Saint Germain l’Auxerrois mais aussi Notre Dame) dès mon plus jeune âge. Au moins, ça m’a appris à être patient car, à l’âge de 6 ans, la messe peut sembler longue ! Si j’étais sage, j’avais droit à une boite de Lego à la sortie !

Sophie Laurant : D’abord, j’ai grandi à Bourges, une jolie cité médiévale située exactement au centre de la France. Or, cette ville possède l’une des plus belles cathédrales gothiques de France, construite à partir de 1195. Elle est légèrement postérieure à Notre-Dame (dont le chantier commence en 1163) et contemporaine de Chartres. En outre, mon père était professeur d’histoire et faisait souvent visiter ce monument dont tous les habitants sont fiers, à des amis ou des membres de la famille venus en visite. Si bien que j’ai appris très jeune à distinguer l’art gothique de l’art roman ! Mon père nous expliquait que Bourges était fameux pour le rouge de ses vitraux alors qu’à Chartres, c’était le bleu qui éblouissait. Il nous faisait remarquer que notre cathédrale, contrairement à la plupart, n’avait pas de transept mais une forme de carène de bateau renversée.

Je ne me souviens pas en revanche de ma première visite à Notre-Dame de Paris. Ce fut sans doute avec mes parents, lorsque nous « montions » à Paris en touristes. Cependant, je me rappelle que lorsque j’étais étudiante, j’étais entrée, un peu par hasard, un dimanche après-midi où je me sentais très seule dans la capitale. Et, par hasard, je suis tombée au moment du traditionnel concert d’orgue hebdomadaire. C’était magnifique et je suis ensuite revenue plusieurs fois. Surtout que c’était gratuit : une aubaine pour une étudiante !

Gary Lee Kraut : Où étiez-vous le 15 avril 2019 quand vous avec pris appris que Notre-Dame était en flammes et comment s’est déroulé votre soirée ?

Stéphane Compoint : J’étais chez moi, attaqué par des sanglots ! Mais je suis entré très vite dans une longue conversation téléphonique avec Catherine Lalanne (la rédactrice en chef de Pèlerin), ce qui nous a tous les deux projetés dans un futur proche et dans l’action, ce qui m’a fait un bien fou ! Car nous étions un lundi, jour de bouclage des hebdomadaires, et il a fallu tout de suite mettre en place une stratégie éditoriale adaptée, modifier l’édition à paraitre le jeudi suivant et mettre en route un n° hors-série à paraitre le vendredi suivant…. La semaine fut très courte en heures de sommeil mais au moins nous étions dans le travail plutôt que passif face à cette immense perte !

Sophie Laurant : J’étais dans le métro, je rentrais chez moi du travail. J’ai reçu le SMS d’une consœur, mais je n’ai pas réalisé que c’était grave. C’est seulement arrivée au pied de mon immeuble que j’ai reçu l’appel de ma rédactrice en chef, Catherine Lalanne : elle venait de demander qu’on recule le bouclage de notre numéro hebdomadaire qui partait à l’imprimerie, comme tous les lundis soirs. Elle a juste eu le temps de faire insérer une grande photo avec une légende. Du coup, j’ai suivi tous les événements devant ma télévision, tout en dialoguant avec un ami restaurateur de monuments historiques qui m’expliquait que les départs de feu sont la terreur des entreprises qui restaurent les charpentes. Je n’ai éteint la télé que lorsqu’on a appris que le monument était sauvé. Et le lendemain matin, je suis passée exprès en bus devant la cathédrale : j’avais besoin de vérifier de mes yeux qu’elle était toujours bien là. J’ai même pris une photo à travers la vitre, un peu rassurée. Dès je suis arrivée au journal, nous avons décidé de republier notre hors-série paru en 2013 pour les 850 ans de la cathédrale, avec évidemment une actualisation. Sur chaque numéro, 1 € était reversé pour la collecte en faveur de Notre-Dame. Nous avons vendu 33 000 exemplaires… Nous avons donc eu, dès le début, le sentiment d’être utiles. C’était important pour surmonter ce désastre. D’ailleurs, les architectes ont demandé à consulter les images de Stéphane qui devenaient des documents historiques.

Gary Lee Kraut : Quand avez-vous pu rentrer à Notre-Dame pour la première fois après l’incendie ? Pouvez-vous nous raconter l’aventure et vos impressions ?

Stéphane Compoint : Malgré le statut d’hebdomadaire chrétien, les tractations entre Le Pèlerin et les responsables médias du chantier pour me laisser accéder au site furent très difficiles. Finalement, c’est du général Jean-Louis Georgelin lui-même (chef de l’Établissement Public chargé de reconstruire la cathédrale*), croyant et sensible au travail photographique à mi-hauteur (en ballon captif) que j’avais réalisé en 2013 pour le 850e anniversaire de la cathédrale, que viendra le salut. Nous lui avons offert des grands tirages de ces photographies, avec lesquelles il a décoré son bureau… Et j’ai pu entrer pour la première fois dans la cathédrale blessée le 3 mars 2020, soit 10 mois et demi après l’incendie.

Sophie Laurant : Ce fut seulement le 21 octobre 2020. Car durant la première année, les équipes étaient occupées à dépolluer le plomb et à consolider la cathédrale. En outre, se mettait en place, sous la direction du général Georgelin nommé par le président de la République Emmanuel Macron, toute une administration pyramidale qui filtrait les demandes de la presse. Heureusement, au Pèlerin, nous avions publié en 2013, un hors-série entièrement consacré à Notre-Dame, réalisé avec l’aide du clergé. Stéphane a pu déjà effectuer un premier reportage en mars 2020. Ensuite, Catherine a insisté, insisté sans cesse, auprès du général et du service de communication de cet établissement public chargé de la restauration. Finalement, ils ont accepté que nous soyons « partenaires », c’est-à-dire, que nous puissions assez régulièrement, suivre le chantier, en images et en textes. Ce n’était pas beaucoup mais c’était plus que la plupart des autres médias.

De cette première visite, je garde le souvenir des échafaudages à escalader, de la vue incroyable sur Paris qui se dévoilait alors. Quand nous sommes arrivés sur le sommet des murs de la cathédrale, j’ai vu les poutres calcinées encore fichées dans les angles de la croisée du transept : c’était ce qui restait de la base de la flèche ! J’ai ressenti une impression de désolation. Là, tout à coup, je me rendais compte de l’ampleur de la tâche qu’il restait à accomplir.

* NDLR : La cathédrale Notre-Dame étant propriété de l’État français, c’est à l’État qu’incombe l’entretien de l’édifice. Dès le lendemain de l’incendie, le président Emmanuel Macron a annoncé son souhait que la reconstruction soit achevée dans les cinq ans. Le lendemain, le général Jean-Louis Georgelin est nommé à la tête du projet. Le général ne vivra pas le temps de la réouverture puisqu’il décède dans un accident de randonnée le 18 août 2023.

Gary Lee Kraut : Les recherches préalables à la restauration étaient l’occasion pour les spécialistes d’approfondir leurs connaissances de l’édifice et de son histoire. Y avait-il des découvertes ou des analyses qui vous ont particulièrement surprise ou impressionnée ?

Sophie Laurant : Oui, les chercheurs ont été les premiers à se mobiliser, dès le lendemain de l’incendie. A l’Association des journalistes du patrimoine*, nous avons d’ailleurs organisé très vite une rencontre avec certains d’entre eux. Leur premier message était le suivant : « nous avons beaucoup d’informations sur Notre-Dame et nous voulons les mettre au service de sa restauration. » Tout de suite après, les architectes** leur ont demandé de réaliser des prélèvements, des analyses, des études, des relevés dans le monument afin de documenter au maximum tous les éléments, y compris les débris. Ces études très poussées leur ont permis de préciser leur stratégie de restauration. Par exemple, de choisir un calcaire très similaire à celui d’origine pour tailler les pierres nouvelles.

Au fil des cinq ans, les scientifiques ont découvert énormément de nouvelles informations sur Notre-Dame. Par exemple, que ses murs étaient consolidés par d’énormes agrafes de fer. On ne pensait pas que cette technique était autant utilisée dès le XIIe siècle. Mais la découverte la plus spectaculaire est sans aucun doute, la mise au jour, lors de fouilles archéologiques à la croisée du transept, des morceaux de sculptures de grande qualité du jubé médiéval. Ce mur décoratif servait au Moyen Age à fermer le chœur de l’église et à séparer l’espace sacré où était dite la messe, de l’espace plus profane de la nef où le public venait écouter l’office (mais ne voyait pas). Au XVIe siècle, la liturgie catholique évolue, poussée par la Réforme protestante. Les jubés sont détruits dans presque toutes les églises et cathédrales afin de rapprocher le clergé de l’assistance et de mieux faire comprendre le rite.

Cependant, comme les personnages sculptés représentent le Christ, Marie, les apôtres… les ouvriers avaient l’habitude d’enterrer pieusement sur place les morceaux qu’ils démontent. C’est ainsi qu’on a retrouvé des morceaux du jubé dans de nombreuses cathédrales, comme Bourges ou Chartres. Mais là, à Notre-Dame, ce qui est incroyable c’est qu’on a pu sauvegarder les couleurs des sculptures avant que l’air ambiant ne les détruise. Et l’on découvre ainsi que certains personnages de l’Evangile ont les yeux bleus, un teint délicatement rosé, comme sur les enluminures ! C’est magnifique. On peut les voir en ce moment exposés au musée de Cluny, à Paris. Et j’ai appris qu’une tête qui avait été retrouvée au XIXe siècle lors de précédents travaux, et qui se trouve aujourd’hui à l’université américaine Duke, en Caroline du Nord, s’adapte exactement à un buste qui vient d’être retrouvé, en mars 2022. La chercheuse américaine Jennifer Feltman avec le projet « Notre-Dame in color » poursuit la recherche avec ses collègues français pour rassembler tous les morceaux…

Stéphane Compoint : En tant que photo-journaliste, j’ai participé à de nombreuses campagnes de fouilles archéologiques dans le Monde (en Égypte, Turquie, Pérou, Chili, etc.) dont celle sur les fouilles sous-marines sur les vestiges du Phare d’Alexandrie en 1995-1997, où j’ai reçu un World Press Photo. J’ai été donc particulièrement ému par la découverte des vestiges du jubé médiéval, au printemps 2022 : voir un visage du Christ, les yeux clos, émerger des brosses et pinceaux des archéologues au beau milieu de la croisée du transept, c’est quelque chose que je n’oublierai jamais. Je me souviens aussi de la réaction du chef des archéologues, qui se trouvait à côté de moi à ce moment précis : « La plus grande émotion de toute ma carrière ! ». Et puis, j’étais le seul photographe de presse sur le site ce jour-là, ce qui m’a également procuré une grande satisfaction professionnelle !

* NDLR : Sophie Laurant a été présidente de l’Association des journalistes du patrimoine du 2016 to 2022. Gary Lee Kraut servait du secrétaire général du 2016 à 2020. Stéphane Compoint est également membre.

** En France, les monuments historiques sont conservés par des architectes spécialisés appelés « architectes des Bâtiments de France ». Ces fonctionnaires confient les chantiers de restauration à d’autres spécialistes, les « architectes en chef des Monuments historiques ». Philippe Villeneuve est l’architecte en chef des monuments historiques à la tête du chantier de restauration de la cathédrale.

Gary Lee Kraut : En préparant vos articles sur les multiples facettes de la restauration, vous avez pu rencontrer de nombreux artisans, ouvriers et responsables, à Paris et à travers la France. Y a-t-il une ou plusieurs personnes dont l’approche ou la personnalité vous a particulièrement impressionnée ou fascinée ?

Sophie Laurant : Ce sont tous des passionnés et des artisans de très haut niveau. J’ai beaucoup apprécié de rencontrer la restauratrice de peintures, Marie Parant, qui a coordonné un des groupes qui restaurait les peintures des chapelles du chœur de Notre-Dame. Cette professionnelle est une admiratrice d’Eugène Viollet-le-Duc*, l’architecte qui les a peintes, au XIXe siècle et elle m’a invitée deux fois dans son atelier, à Bastille, pour me montrer sa documentation et me faire comprendre la qualité de ces couleurs. Elle a aussi participé à la chorale des compagnons qui s’est formée entre tous les intervenants, qu’ils soient archéologues, logisticiens ou tailleurs de pierre. Ils ont chanté le 11 décembre dans la cathédrale pour célébrer la communauté de travail qu’ils ont tous formé. Il y a réellement eu un « effet Notre-Dame » que nous sentions chez tous : mélange de fierté devant un tel monument, de joie de travailler à un projet commun, d’élan vers plus grand que soi.

J’ai aussi été marquée par la personnalité forte de Loïc Desmonts, un tout jeune patron charpentier (il a 25 ans), qui redéveloppe, en Normandie, l’art d’ériger des charpentes à la façon médiévale : avec ses équipes, il taille le bois encore vert et utilise des outils manuels. Il défend aussi « l’art du trait à la française » qui est une façon de tracer, à l’échelle 1, les épures de chaque pièce de charpente, sur le sol, avant de les tailler. Cet art est reconnu par l’Unesco. Chez lui, j’ai rencontré des membres de l’ONG « Charpentiers sans frontières ». Notamment deux artisans américains qui m’ont parlé, les larmes aux yeux, de leur amour pour Notre-Dame, pour laquelle ils sont venus en France, donner un coup de main à leurs collègues français. Car il existe très peu de charpentiers, dans le monde, qui savent encore tailler des charpentes à l’ancienne.

Enfin, je citerai Iris Serrière, qui est vitrailliste dans l’entreprise de sa mère, la restauratrice et créatrice de vitraux, Flavie Vincent-Petit, à Troyes. Cette jeune fille très réfléchie et joyeuse, hésitait, quand je l’ai rencontrée, entre devenir théologienne ou maître-verrier ! Peut-être, se disait-elle, qu’elle pourrait pratiquer les deux… L’atelier familial a restauré une partie des 24 baies hautes de la cathédrale. Les deux femmes m’ont confié leur émotion de s’inscrire dans une lignée de maître-verriers, de retrouver et continuer à « allier l’intelligence, le geste et la spiritualité » pour « redonner à lire ces vitraux ».

Stéphane Compoint : J’ai été très impressionné par la connaissance encyclopédique du monument par Philippe Villeneuve, l’architecte en chef, et par la sureté de ses prises de décisions, cruciales mais qui n’avait rien d’évidentes, dans les jours qui ont suivi l’incendie. J’ai aussi beaucoup apprécié la personnalité du chef des échafaudeurs, Didier Cuiset, dont le cursus académique se limite à un bac -3 mais dont le savoir-faire est exceptionnel. Comme de nombreux compagnons, il est d’origine modeste et a reçu une éducation où on est peu enclin à parler de soi-même, mais il a fallu qu’il apprenne aussi le faire-savoir pour satisfaire les médias… et il beaucoup progressé en cinq ans !

*NDLR : Viollet-le-Duc a dirigé une importante restauration de Notre-Dame au milieu du XIXe siècle. Ce faisant, il a également ajouté de nouveaux éléments, comme les chimères, ces sculptures de créatures imaginaires et en a remplacé d’autres comme la flèche qui s’est effondrée lors de l’incendie et qui a été reconstruite depuis.

Gary Lee Kraut : Y a-t-il un moment dans vos recherches qui vous a particulièrement surpris ou marqué ?

Sophie Laurant : Je pense à un moment dont je me souviendrai longtemps : au printemps 2022, je devais interviewer le grutier qui pilotait la très grande grue de 80 mètres de haut. Elle a accompagné tout le chantier. Celui-ci m’a fait monter en ascenseur jusqu’à une minuscule plateforme, à 60 mètres de haut où l’on doit ensuite prendre une échelle à crinoline pour franchir les 20 derniers mètres avant d’arriver à sa cabine chauffée et confortable… Déjà, j’avais le vertige, mais j’ai eu peur de rester paralysée au milieu de l’échelle, suspendue dans le vide… J’ai préféré renoncer, car si jamais j’avais bloqué le chantier par une crise de panique, je n’aurais sans doute plus jamais eu le droit d’entrer à nouveau. Le grutier, très à l’aise, m’a donc proposé de faire l’interview sur la minuscule plateforme ! Je n’étais guère plus tranquille, mais je n’ai pas osé refuser. Alors, dans le froid, le vent, avec la grue qui oscillait légèrement, j’ai rassemblé mon courage, évité de regarder les ouvriers minuscules qui œuvraient plus bas, sur le toit provisoire de Notre-Dame, et je lui ai posé mes questions. Je suis assez fière d’avoir réussi, car chez moi, j’ai le vertige sur un tabouret !

Stéphane Compoint : A l’été 2020, j’ai été marqué par la rencontre inattendue avec la partie sommitale de la flèche calcinée, encastrée dans l’extrados de la nef, lors d’une fin de journée de reportage, à une heure et demi du matin : j’étais entré à 7h30, sans pouvoir manger ou boire durant ces 18 heures, mais cette vision et cette photo valait bien tous ces efforts ! A l’automne 2020, il y a aussi cette première vue générale extérieure tant attendue, qui englobe toute la charpente dévastée, que j’ai pu prendre grâce à mon trépied géant (de ma conception) que j’ai élevé à une quinzaine de mètres au-dessus de la croisée dévastée.

Gary Lee Kraut : Estimez-vous que le public ait été bien informé pendant toute cette période de réhabilitation de Notre-Dame ? As-tu rencontré des difficultés en faisant tes reportages ?

Sophie Laurant : Il y a eu énormément d’articles au final. Toute la presse internationale a couvert le chantier, de près ou de loin. Mais il est vrai que l’Etablissement public a choisi les médias qui pouvaient accéder sur le chantier et a restreint l’accès. Certaines raisons sont compréhensibles : la cathédrale était entièrement couverte de poussière de plomb. Donc, il fallait se déshabiller entièrement dans un sas, se vêtir d’une combinaison jetable et prendre une douche avec shampoing au retour du reportage. Comme tous les ouvriers d’ailleurs qui pénétraient « en zone sale ». D’autre part, le chantier devait se mener en cinq ans, donc les équipes n’avaient pas beaucoup de temps à accorder à la presse. Mais c’est sûr qu’il était difficile à vivre, pour les journalistes, de devoir demander sans cesse des autorisations pour toutes les interviews des acteurs du chantier… Et encore, au Pèlerin, nous avons eu le privilège de suivre régulièrement les opérations : je suis entrée sept fois en cinq ans sur le chantier et Stéphane presque dix fois plus.

Gary Lee Kraut : Sophie, vous avez rédigé la plupart des textes, et Stéphane, vous avez pris les photos pour le hors-série important sur ce « chantier d’exception » publié par Le Pèlerin la semaine de sa réouverture. Ces reportages signalent-ils pour vous la fin de l’aventure Notre-Dame ?

Stéphane Compoint : Après la réouverture, Le Pèlerin va évidemment alléger la couverture écrite et photographique du chantier. Néanmoins, le celui-ci va durer encore trois ans environ à l’extérieur de la cathédrale, notamment au niveau de l’abside et des arcs boutants de la nef et du chœur : nous nous efforcerons donc d’être présents aux moments clés de ces travaux.

Sophie Laurant : Nous allons continuer de suivre les travaux qui désormais se concentrent sur le chevet et les pignons de la cathédrale, à l’extérieur. Stéphane va aussi essayer de documenter de manière exhaustive la cathédrale telle qu’elle est aujourd’hui, comme il l’avait fait en 2013. Et nous allons être attentifs au choix du maître-verrier qui doit proposer de nouveaux vitraux pour le sud de la nef ; à la pose de tapisseries contemporaines, dans les chapelles nord, d’ici dix-huit mois ; à la création prochaine d’un musée de l’œuvre de la cathédrale, dans l’hôtel-Dieu, sur le parvis… parvis qui va être entièrement remodelé et modernisé pour un meilleur accueil des visiteurs. Nous publierons sans doute beaucoup de ces reportages sur notre site internet, dans les années qui viennent.

Gary Lee Kraut : Après avoir suivi de près la restauration ces 5 dernières années, votre regard sur la cathédrale a-t-il changé ?

Sophie Laurant : Oui. Je la connais désormais très bien alors qu’elle n’était pour moi qu’une cathédrale parmi d’autres dans laquelle je n’entrais pas si souvent avant l’incendie. Et puis, je me souviens surtout des murs gris, de la pénombre, de la foule… Là, elle est blonde, propre, extrêmement bien éclairée. Cela met en valeur les tableaux (tous nettoyés) comme dans aucune autre église en France.

Stéphane Compoint : La première chose qui a changé dans mon regard sur la cathédrale, c’est que j’ai pu mieux mesurer à quel point le travail des bâtisseurs du XII° et XIII est parsemé de prouesses techniques ! Car pouvoir écouter régulièrement et longuement les architectes en chef sur le terrain, cela vaut tous les cours magistraux d’architecture en amphi ! J’ai donc appris beaucoup de choses passionnantes sur une discipline, l’architecture, qui m’a toujours intéressée (mon père était architecte). Quant à mon regard, il a changé car nous sommes passé d’une cathédrale obscure à une cathédrale lumineuse. Et moi, comme beaucoup de photographes, j’aime la lumière ! Enfin, je sais que, à l’avenir, je verrai des images d’artisans d’art et de compagnons au travail se superposer à ma vision actuelle lors de mes prochaines visites de la cathédrale restaurée : un privilège !

Pour en savoir plus sur le travail journalistique de Sophie Laurant, voir ici.
Pour en savoir plus sur le travail photographique de Stéphane Compoint, voir ici. 
La réservation (gratuite) pour visiter Notre-Dame n’est pas obligatoire. Cependant, elle est vivement conseillée pour un temps d’attente réduite.Voir ici. 

© 2024 Gary Lee Kraut / France Revisited

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Best viewed on a full screen with sound on.

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My audio tour is available on the VoiceMap touring app. VoiceMap’s audio tour app for iOS and Android uses your device’s GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place. Just install the app and download my tour, then go to the starting point just outside the gates of the Tuileries Garden and begin your walk. And since I’ve included 30 beautiful photos you can even tour with me from your computer at home.

The Champs-Elysées tour starts right where my Tuileries Garden VoiceMap tour ends so that you can segue directly from one to the other.

Watch this video to learn more about my Champs-Elysées tour.

So download the tour from the VoiceMap touring app, put on your walking shoes, and join me for an enjoyable, informative and eye-popping stroll through the glory, glamour and glitz of the Champs-Elysées and its monumental bookends, Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe.

You can even listen to the first three locations of this 33-location, 90-minute tour free of charge.

This essential Paris walking tour from Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe starts … right here.

I’ve also created Paris walking tours to the Luxembourg Garden and the Tuileries Garden, along with a unique exploration of the Dark Side of the City of Light on the central Right Bank, all available on the VoiceMap app. Find all of my VoiceMap audio-tours here.

FAQ about Gary’s Paris Walking Tour for the VoiceMap app

How do VoiceMap tours work?
VoiceMap’s audio-tour app for iOS and Android uses your device’s GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place. Just install the app and download your tour, then go to the starting point and begin your walk.

Do I need to follow a route, or can I start the tour anywhere I like?
Tours have a fixed starting point and follow a route to a fixed end location. This allows the tour to provide turn-by-turn-directions and improves the accuracy of automatic playback. It also allows me to tell a better story as one location leads to the next. But the VoiceMap app does have a Resume option, and this allows you to pick up a tour from the closest location and carry on with it whenever you like.

Can I use tours more than once?
You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and the VoiceMap website. Your access to tours doesn’t expire.

Can I listen to tours at home?
Yes! That’s why I’ve included 30 photos for this tour. You don’t need to travel to a tour’s starting point to listen to it. In the VoiceMap app, just select Virtual mode on the screen that displays after you download the tour. You can also listen to the whole tour at voicemap.me.

How do I access a tour using the VoiceMap app if I purchase it through the VoiceMap website?
Once you’ve purchased a tour, it’s added to your VoiceMap library. If you sign into the app using the same method you used at voicemap.me, you’ll have access to your full library of tours. This works the other way too: if you make in-app purchases using the VoiceMap app, you can access these on the VoiceMap website.

Do I need mobile data to do a VoiceMap tour?
No, VoiceMap works entirely offline if there’s no data connection, so you don’t have to pay roaming fees. Just download the tour over WiFi before you get started. And be sure that your phone’s battery is charged before you set out.

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The Missouri-born entertainer, resistance fighter and civil rights activist arrived in Paris in 1925 and soon found fame in France and internationally. She became a naturalized French citizen in 1937, losing her American citizenship in the process (while also gaining an accent on the e in her first name).

The Pantheon, a major monument of the 18th-century, was built as a church then came to serve as the secular tomb of the great men and, more recently, women of France.

The first Black woman and first U.S.-born individual to be “Pantheonized,” Josephine Baker joins statesmen, scientists, authors, resistance leaders, economists, architects, generals, philosophers and others who, at the time of their induction, were held to represent exemplary values of France. Since 1958, individuals have been selected for Pantheonization by decision of the president.

While Baker’s remains are buried in Monaco, her presence in the Pantheon is marked by a cenotaph bearing her name and containing soil from places where she lived: the United States, France, Monaco).

Follow the steps to Joséphine Baker’s cenotaph in vault 13 of the crypt of the Pantheon in this video:

Video and text by Gary Lee Kraut. © 2021. All rights reserved.
Music: Opening of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue performed by George Gershwin and Paul Whiteman. Creative Commons.

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For centuries until the French Revolution, the extension and beautification of Paris was largely a royal affair. Among the last major urban developments in the capital before titles and heads would fall was Place Louis XV, now called Place de la Concorde, Paris’s largest square, a nearly 20-acre zone between the Tuileries Garden and the Champs-Elysées.

In 1793, both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette would know the sharp edge of the guillotine on the square (renamed Place de la Révolution for the occasion), but 30 years earlier the Sixteenth’s predecessor and grandfather, Louis XV, arrived of his own free will to bask in royal veneration as he inaugurated a bronze equestrian statue in his honor. Facing the splendid royal city with calm strength and crowned with laurel leaves, the statue was the focal point around which western Paris would develop, beginning with this very square where two monumental palaces were then under construction.

Ange-Jacques Gabriel, the star architect of the day, had been commissioned to create identical Neoclassical palaces to adorn the northern flank of the new square. These enormously expensive buildings, called hôtels in French, were not exactly purpose-built, beyond the purpose of creating an impressive backdrop for the aforesaid statue. (In French, a hôtel, in addition to designating a place of lodging, refers to a town house or city mansion or administrative building.)

The western building became a private residence. It is now partly occupied by the luxury hotel Le Crillon and the Automobile Club of France. Meanwhile, the eastern building was consigned in 1765 to the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, an institution tasked with furnishing and maintaining the furnishings of royal palaces (Versailles, Compiègne, Fontainebleau, Rambouillet, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and others.) Think of it as the royal furniture storehouse, though it stored and ordered more than furniture. From beds and chairs to bronze clock, crown jewels, fancy firearms and linens, the Garde-Meuble oversaw the ordering and storage of all manner of decorative elements. Its head administrator or intendant was in contact with the major craftsmen and designers of the era, along with a substantial budget. (The Garde-Meuble is ancestor to the Mobilier National, which currently maintains and restores furnishings, ancient and contemporary, for official use by the State.)

Alas, it wasn’t exactly a secure location for national treasures: revolutionaries raided the royal arms collections on July 13, 1789 before heading to the Bastille the following day, and the crown jewels were stolen in 1792. But eventually there was enough calm in the air to optimistically rebaptize the square on which it stood Place de la Concorde.

The French Naval Command began to use a portion of the Garde-Meuble during the Revolution, and by the of the 18th century it had taken over the entire premises, leading the building to be called Hôtel de la Marine. The Navy continued to occupy the building until 2015, when the military consolidated its branches in a new location in southern Paris. The destiny of the Hôtel de la Marine was then up for grabs.

There was no shortage of ideas on how to re-purpose this glorious chunk of central Paris real estate. What re-opened in June 2021, after four years of renovation, is a hybrid solution: a museum dedicated to the building’s first mission as the royal garde-meuble and its second as navy headquarters; an upscale café; a formal restaurant; a giftshop; an art gallery; the headquarters for two foundations, and several floors of co-working rental space.

Despite its name, the museum in the Hôtel de la Marine is not a pendant to the Museum of the Army at the Invalides. While there are traces of the naval presence—a gallery of “war ports” endowed by Napoleon III, the anchor motifs on ceiling fixtures—along with a tactile display telling about famous French marine officers and explorers, the dozen rooms, large and small, that can be visited largely refer to the building’s initial function as a décor storehouse.

There were only two intendants of the Garde-Meuble over the Louis XV-Louis XVI period that the institution was headquartered here: the intellectual, libertine Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu (from 1772 to 1784) and the more conventional and less imaginative Marc-Antoine Thierry de Ville-d’Avray (from 1784 to 1789), the latter killed during the Revolution. Both left their mark on their private apartments, which were royally furnished and located above the ground-floor storerooms. Painstakingly restored, the human-size living space and offices occupied by these two upper-management bureaucrats are the primary rooms that one visits here while wearing a well-fitting headset through which you learn about their lives and times, major historical events and especially the décor.

Visitors can crab-walk through the narrow, mirrored love-nest created by Fontanieu (though the erotica was later replaced with playful cherubs) and the airy, ostentatious bedrooms later created for Ville-d’Avray and his wife. Electric “candlelight” adds to the charm of these rooms, though the electric cords drooping from the faux candles refutes some of that charm.

The necessary and instructive audio tour is upbeat enough to engage the listener, while the rooms themselves are presented as though still occupied: the dining room table is littered with oyster shells, as it would be after an intimate, upper-class dinner; the gaming tables are cluttered with cards and betting tokens, and the office desks are swamped by paperwork, ledgers and teacups. Beyond the living quarters, the eye is further treated to the gilt decorative work and large chandeliers of galleries subsequently used as ballrooms by Napoleon I, Charles X and Napoleon III, given life during the tour through video recreations of dances past.

This slice-of-life scenery is possible only after years of treasure hunts for authentic furnishings and period fabrics. Curators and private donors have scooped up past inventory at private auctions. The dining room furniture appropriated by former president Giscard d’Estaing has been returned from the Elysée Palace by President Emmanuel Macron. Visitors from Boston may recognize the Ville-d’Avray bedroom furniture since some of the original furnishings are now in their local museum. WWII buffs will note in that bedroom the hole in the inner shutter that was made by the German occupiers (the German Navy commandeered the building from 1940 to 1944) to watch out for the arrival of liberating forces on Rue de Rivoli in August 1944.

Toward the end of the visit one steps out onto the terrace behind the building’s signature colonnade for a panoramic view of Place de la Concorde and monuments beyond it: the Grand Palais, the Eiffel Tower, the National Assembly, the dome of the Invalides, the greenery of the Tuileries Garden—a view that’s nearly worth the price of admission itself.

Because, yes, there is a cost to this decorative time travel: 13€ for the 45-minute Salon & Loggia tour (with headset) that gives access to the ceremonial rooms and the panoramic view or 17€ for a 90-minute Grand Tour (with headset) which additionally includes the living quarters and private offices, a dozen rooms in all. (Free for visitors under 25.) The indicated times are those of the full audio (available in English) but you aren’t required to stay in each room to examine each decorative item. Seventy minutes or so is a more likely time for the Grand Tour.

Given the choice, we suggest springing for the Grand Tour, in which you have a choice between the following themes: The Age of Enlightenment (i.e. the 18th century), Traveling through Time, and two Family themes, one for adults and one for children. Unless visiting with children (who may find the museum a yawn anyway) and unless you’re particularly interested in 18th history and decorative arts, choose Travelling through Time, which nevertheless gives plenty of information about the 18th century and the décor. Timed reservations are mandatory and help avoid over-crowding of the smaller rooms.

While the colonnade of the Hôtel de la Marine has for 250 years been part of the Parisian landscape, the possibility for the public to now go inside for a view of its splendor is a welcome addition to the city’s museumscape.

The caféscape of Paris also benefits from the opening of Café Lapérouse, named for an 18th-century marine officer and explorer (and a famous restaurant across the river). It’s a fine, chic and pricey port to weigh anchor at any time of day, whether for a morning croissant (3€) or a lobster salad sandwich (35€) or a croque-monsieur (24€) or a late afternoon drink. A ticket to the museum isn’t necessary to enter the café, the courtyard or the gift shop.

The formal restaurant, La Mimosa, directed by multi-starred chef Jean-François Piège, will open in September. According to advance press, it will have a Southern-French influence and France’s first devilled egg bar.

The State’s Centre des Monuments Nationaux, which operates the building, has also made a 20-year deal with the Qatari Al Thani family to present its art collection in the Hôtel de la Marine. The inaugural show will open in the fall.

Hôtel de la Marine, 2 place de la Concorde, 8th arrondissement. Metro: Concorde. Open daily 10:30 am – 7:00 pm; Fridays until 10 pm.

© 2021, Corinne LaBalme and Gary Lee Kraut.

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Does it matter? In many cases, no—you buy your ticket (mostly online these days) and visit. But it’s worth knowing which monuments are operated by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), the Center for National Monuments, since a pass called Passion Monuments allows for unlimited visits to most of them for a full year for only 45€. (Passion Monuments doesn’t mean that the monuments have passion but that the holder is passionate about visiting them.)

Tasked by the Ministry of Culture and Communication with “conserving, restoring and maintaining the monuments and collections under its responsibility,” the CMN oversees nearly 100 monuments throughout France, 80 of which can be visited with the Passion Monuments pass.

For monument-minded residents and others available to provide an address in France, Passion Monuments is a must-have that will likely pay for itself several times over. There’s also a psychological benefit of having such a pass since you will find yourself revisiting monuments of which you’d previously thought “been-there-done-that” and visiting others that aren’t otherwise on your cultural radar. Not to mention that now you don’t have to buy a ticket when you accompany visiting friends to the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Forty-five euros is about the cost of entering just four monuments. In Paris, the pass covers such (re)visitable monuments as the Arc de Triomphe, the Conciergerie, the Pantheon and the Sainte-Chapelle, as well as the notable newcomer Hôtel de la Marine (entrance for which alone is 17€). In the Paris region, use the pass as an invitation to yourself to visit the suburban sights Saint Denis Basilica-Cathedral and the castle of Vincennes, both easily accessible by metro.

No need to be Paris-centric about this. Pick any region and you’ll find major monuments operated by the CMN that are included on the pass: the chateau of Azay-le-Rideau in the Loire Valley, the castle of Angers, the abbey of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, the castle and ramparts of Carcassonne, the Palais du Tau in Reims, the abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, the megaliths of Locmariaquer in Brittany, the château d’If off the coast of Marseille, the prehistoric site of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac in Dordogne, etc. See the full list here. The list itself will make you want to hit the monumental road.

The pass is officially available to residents of France over the age of 26 but CMN isn’t actually asking for proof of residence but simply that you provide an address in France where they can the card, though you can also pick it up at CMN headquarters. So visitors staying long enough (several weeks? several months?) to get good use from the pass might also wish to purchase one in their own name. After ordering the pass online, your card will be sent by post to that address within four days or can be picked up at the CMN’s headquarters in Paris at the Hôtel de Sully, 62 rue Saint-Antoine in the 4th arrondissement (metro Saint-Paul).

The pass isn’t available to those under 26 years of age for the simple reason that entrance to most of the monuments is free to anyone under 18 and to members of the European Union aged 18 to 25. By over 26 is meant anyone past their 26th birthday, so even 26 + 1 day counts as being over 26.

The pass also gives slightly reduced rates for cultural partners, including the chateaux of Chantilly and Fontainebleau in the Paris regions, the Pinault Collection and the Invalides in Paris, and twenty-some other sights elsewhere in France. Three set days per year you can also invite a guest to join you on your cultural excursion free of charge.

(For visitors to the capital staying for one week or less, the Paris Museum Pass remains the best deal for visiting museums and monuments. Other cities and regions also have local passes that are a good deal.)

Timed reservations are now required for most museums and monuments, and for most of those museums and some of those monuments that’s the cases for Passion Monuments and Paris Museum Pass holders as well. So be sure to verify online for each sight that you plan to visit.

© 2021, Gary Lee Kraut

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