Hello everyone, you're listening to the Earful Tower podcast. My name is Oliver G. If you're new around here,

this is a show all about Paris and France, hosted by me, an Australian guy who's lived in Paris

for, well, five and a half, five and a half years. Wow. In that time that I've lived in France,

I've seen a lot of interesting things. And one of the most memorable sites that I can remember seeing in that time was the Notre Dame Cathedral burning.

You probably all saw it, wherever you are in the world.

You probably all saw it at home on the TV.

Shocking images, flames, rising up into the night, the spire collapsing.

And thankfully, the building remained, although it was heavily, heavily damaged.

So that night was in April last year. So April 2019, April 15th, if I remember correctly. And this episode you're about to hear

is all about Notre Dame. It's a pretty, if I sound a little bit excited, it's because I am, I think

this is a pretty good episode. I think you're going to like it. First, you're going to hear a pretty

normal length episode with Agnes Poirier, an author who's just written a book about the cathedral. It's called

Notre Dame the Soul of France. I'll talk a bit more about the book and Agnes in a second.

But after that bit finishes, you're going to hear from the Monsieur Le Maire, the mayor of, I usually call on the mayor of the Marais,

but since he was last on this podcast, Monsieur Ariel Vale, he has won an election and he's now

the mayor of Paris Centre, which means the first, second, third and fourth arrondissement. And I had him on the show

a while back talking about the Notre Dame and then I had him on the show again during the

lockdown. And during that episode, I said, hey, do you mind hanging around just a little bit

and talking a little bit about the latest on Notre Dame. So you'll hear that. You'll hear him

talking about, well, it's not good news really for people who are expecting to get in there again

quickly. Here's a quote from him. He said, it won't be reconstructed in five years. That's for sure.

There's no way referring to what President Emmanuel Macron said soon after it was burned down.

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