What future for the body and soul of France?

I was in Paris on Monday April 15, barely 1km away from Notre-Dame, preparing for an evening out when my friend happened across the first images. “Notre-Dame’s on fire” she shouted. I thought it was a joke, then some kind of sick internet stunt – but no; the images were real. There were sirens going off everywhere and from the street we could already see smoke.

For Parisians who have been through the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks, not to mention four months of street violence associated with the gilets jaunes movement, this seemed like a particularly cruel blow.

That evening, on the metro, strangers were talking to each other about this collective tragedy. One man was walking down the train, sharing phone images with those who didn’t have a connection. These images spread around the globe as quickly as the blaze itself.

We arrived at our friends’ to find the family sitting, stunned in front of the television, as the spire collapsed. There was a slight sense of relief later in the evening when we learned the towers had been saved and the terrorism hypothesis was dispelled in favour of an accidental electrical fault.

And then the pledges of donations came flooding in, just hours after the fire started and before the last flames had been extinguished. A national subscription was opened and the site crashed within hours. The total quickly topped one billion euros. Pledges came from thousands of private individuals and businesses, representatives of the French Muslim community, and France’s richest, offering huge donations of up to 200 million Euros. (Patronage of the arts is a big deal in France and there is no shortage of examples of wealthy patrons carrying huge projects, for example, the Cartier Foundation museum of modern art.)

As the city’s fire-fighters fought the flames, President Emmanuel Macron announced that his address to the nation, scheduled for that evening, on government measures following the gilet jaune crisis, would be delayed. A cynic might suspect the increasingly unpopular president was probably relieved to be faced with an issue that would deflect attention from the nation’s more intractable socio-economic ills, as catalysed by the gilet jaune movement which has held protests every weekend for the last 23 weeks.

Tragedies do have potential to galvanise communities, thus Macron’s rallying cock-a-doodle-do cry: “We will rebuild Notre-Dame. Within five years”. And even if the timeline is undoubtedly wildly unrealistic – experts estimate 10 plus years – one can hardly blame an embattled politician for trying. However, as Macron was expressing praise and gratitude for the generosity of big donors, others, especially those on the left, were more circumspect.

Commentators have pointed out that donations receive 60-66 percent tax deduction, so tax-payers are effectively footing most of the bill. One family has declared it will forgo the rebate on its 100 million euro donation. But sceptics from far-left unions and political parties speculate that this is a publicity stunt to deflect attention from dodgy dealings.

More importantly though, leading French charities like the Fondation L’Abbé Pierre, which helps house the homeless, while applauding the generosity of the nation after the “spectacular” blaze, point out that there is never enough money to house and feed France’s growing number of poor. Donations are down an average 4.2 percent over the last 12 months and more than 500 homeless people die on the streets every year.

On a similar note – minus the generosity of spirit and happiness that Notre-Dame will be saved – the immediate reaction from the gilets jaunes was more bilious in tone: “Millions for Notre-Dame!!! What about the poor?” This slogan was seen again at the 23rd weekend protest on Saturday 20th, held at Place de La République as meetings are currently prohibited around Notre-Dame. This protest once again ended in violent clashes with riot police and with destruction of businesses and property including numerous rubbish bins and scooters which were set ablaze.

So if Macron was thinking the successful dousing of Notre-Dame might also pour enough cold water on the protests to extinguish the movement, that hasn’t happened yet - though I strongly suspect support for the gilets jaunes, already waning (there were fewer than 9000 in Paris last Saturday ), will continue to fall. Their ungenerous, uncivil reaction to Notre-Dame will not endear them to their compatriots. It appears most French feel personally affected by the fire and wish to see their national icon, rise, Phoenix-like from the ashes, as she has done, several times in her history.

As a New Zealander with dual French citizenship and having lived in Paris, I share their sentiments: Paris without Notre-Dame would not be Paris. It is a jewel of gothic architecture, built over 100 years, (1163 to 1272). It has been renovated, desecrated and restored numerous times. Neither the biggest nor the oldest cathedral in France, it is nonetheless the most famous and the most iconic.

Notre-Dame is a national icon, a symbol that extends far beyond religious and political affiliations, considered by many to represent “le corps et l’âme de la France” (the body and soul of France). French historian Michelet called it “a history book” of France. It is a place of coronations, state funerals and where France celebrated the end of World War 1 and Liberation in 1944 – it is a place of public opinion, of national mourning, of unity, protest and polarisation.

It is an international icon of culture, celebrated in literature and film, from Victor Hugo to Disney, which no doubt explains why it is the most visited monument in Europe.

And, of course, it is a Christian icon, which perhaps makes it appropriate that her restoration serves as a call and reminder – to billionaire donors and political elites – to extend Christian values of compassion and charity across the nation. While one cannot but deplore the gilets jaunes’ mindless ransacking of small businesses, violent goading of police and destruction of property, one can understand their rage at French society’s growing inequalities – of which the tax-avoiding (pardon, tax-minimising) super rich are the living proof.

If Notre-Dame is also a Republican icon, then perhaps her reconstruction might encourage reflection on the urgent need to rebuild – or finally build – the nation on its declared values: Liberté, égalité, fraternité, which after all, include the words for “equality” and “brotherhood”.