The Bells That Rang Again Over Paris

On April 15, 2019, the world watched Notre-Dame Cathedral burn. The spire collapsed into flame. The great rose windows cracked. And then, for five long years, silence settled where bells had rung over Paris for eight centuries. Then on December 7, 2024, the Emmanuel bell — all thirteen tons of her — rang out over the city once more. Thousands gathered along the Seine, some weeping openly, some pressing hands to their chests as if the sound had reached something deep inside them.…