At Notre-Dame, last spotlight on the construction site before reopening

"It's a joy to see this because you can feel that it's a lifetime's work," says Marc Augustyn, 63, who came with his family to the parvis of Notre-Dame, in this ephemeral "village" where the woodcutters, sculptors and other carpenters who rebuilt the cathedral exhibit their know-how.

"We just want to say well done and thank you," continues the sixty-year-old.

The operation, which is part of the Heritage Days, takes on a special flavor this year. In less than three months, this masterpiece of Gothic art will reopen its doors after the gigantic fire of April 2019 which partly ravaged it, arousing global emotion.

Much has been said about this extraordinary 700 million euro project, but Fabien Guignard-Fauconnier, sculptor and restorer at the Atelier Jean-Loup Bouvier, remembers above all the state of mind that united the hundreds of companies and craftsmen.

"The most beautiful thing was this brotherhood. It's a bit like everything I had done before was to get to this moment," he says.

Facing visitors, this site manager who supervised the renovation of 2.300 sculptures at Notre-Dame recounts his discussions with the other companies involved in the project. "It was really the spirit: +How could I tackle this? I would just pass by like that. What do you think?+".

"If it worked, it's because we created a team spirit between all the companies, some of which are usually competitors," says Philippe Jost, president of the public institution in charge of the project, who also notes the extra soul brought by the reconstruction of such a monument.

"Notre-Dame is mobilizing, it unifies," he told AFP.

"Very great"

Further along the forecourt, a carpenter stands on an oak tree placed horizontally on trestles and brings his axe down on the bark, leaving only the heart of the tree.

This technique, which made it possible to reconstruct the same framework as nearly a millennium ago, was taught by Rémy Desmonts to another company specializing in mechanical wood cutting, with which he joined forces to respond to the Notre-Dame call for tenders.

"That's really great," says the 63-year-old carpenter based in Normandy, who describes the meticulousness required in selecting the trees that will form the new framework.

The oaks were thus cut down during the "waning moon" when the sap circulates the least and the wood is driest and therefore less permeable to insect infiltration.

"We were able to show that the French had not lost their know-how and the Olympic Games also showed that," he says with satisfaction.

In the audience, Claire is won over. "It's magical and it commands admiration," says this sixty-year-old.

Pouring lead for the roof covering and ornaments, demonstrating interior painting renovation techniques or assembling scaffolding: almost all the trades employed on the site have their own little space in this "village", where the youngest learn how to cut stones or build a Lego cathedral.

The stand dedicated to the new fire-fighting system also attracts attention. At the time of the fire, Notre-Dame only had a smoke detection system that had to be supplemented by a human check.

Notre-Dame is now equipped with more than 300 detection points, including thermal cameras, which will detect abnormal levels of heat or smoke and automatically activate a water mist fire extinguishing system.

Pipes running along the frame and the spire will be able to release "a water mist" to quickly extinguish a fire while limiting "collateral damage" to the wooden structures, Eric Lazzari of the company Détection électronique française (DET) explained to AFP.

"It's simple, in terms of fire protection, we went from 0 to 100," he sums up.