ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Today the French got a glimpse inside Notre Dame Cathedral for the first time since the fire nearly six years ago. President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron took a private tour, and the cameras followed. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley sent this report from Paris.
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PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French).
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: President Macron called over to First Lady Brigitte Macron as they began their tour from the esplanade in front of the cathedral. The Macrons were accompanied by the archbishop and the Mayor of Paris and millions of people around France who watched the two-hour tour broadcast live on just about every TV channel. Philippe Jost, head of Notre Dame's reconstruction, led the group through Notre Dame's massive wooden doors.
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PHILIPPE JOST: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "You will see the cathedral as you never have before," he told Macron.
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BRIGITTE MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Brigitte Macron was heard whispering to the culture minister how struck she was by the light and the brightness. As TV audiences entered the cathedral along with them, anyone who's ever visited Notre Dame in the past couldn't help but be stunned by the soaring ceiling and light. Notre Dame was always dim and its stones so gray. Today its sand-colored stones glowed in the light streaming through vividly colored stained glass windows.
MAXENCE DOMPIERRE: (Speaking French).
ANNE: (Speaking French).
MAXENCE: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Nine-year-old Maxence Dompierre and his mother Anne came out to the cathedral after watching the visit on TV. Maxon says he loves Notre Dame and cried when he watched it burn on TV nearly six years ago. But today was different, he says.
MAXENCE: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "We saw white stones with blue stained glass windows, and it was magnificent," he says. "They cleaned all the stones."
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking French).
E MACRON: (Speaking French).
UNIDENTIFIED STONECARVER: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: All throughout his visit, Macron stopped to talk with artisans who explained how they transformed the cathedral using centuries-old skills but also modern methods.
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E MACRON: (Speaking French).
UNIDENTIFIED STONECARVER: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: A young stonecarver tells Macron they used latex to clean the stones.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking French).
UNIDENTIFIED STONECARVER: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "We covered the stones in latex, and when we pulled it off like a second skin, it pulled off all the grime of 1,500 years of history without damaging a thing," she says. In some of the chapels, vivid colors not seen in centuries have been freed from a dark film.
Macron visited the Cathedrals rafters, a place known as the forest, where 1,400 trees were transformed into beams by axe and now hold up the new roof. Everything is held together by wooden pegs. There's not a single nail, just like in medieval days. But today's forest does have an automatic sprinkler system. Notre Dame has been like a secret fortress for the last 5 1/2 years, and people today got a first glimpse of the marvels to be revealed next weekend when it opens to the public.
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E MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: Surrounded by some 1,200 artists and workers, Macron called it an emotional moment to be back in our cathedral.
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E MACRON: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: He told them, "you have succeeded in what everyone thought was impossible." Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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