In the aftermath of
the fire, some wanted
Notre Dame to be
reborn with a new
look, a contemporary
one that would put the
stamp of our age—and
of the fire itself—on
the cathedral. Others,
those closest to the
monument, just
wanted it made whole
again. The fire “was an
accident,” conservator
Marie-Hélène Didier
says. “You forget. You
try to forget.”A monument
from another
time is braced
for a new day.