Saturday’s reopening of Notre Dame was a meeting of religion and ritual, heads of states and cardinals of the church, modest artisans, proud firemen and billionaires, architectural beauty, and a dosage of fashion.

The immense sense of occasion was palpable, the atmosphere charged as some 2,000 of the great and the good gathered inside the most famous church in Christendom. 

  
Each seat of the first 40 rows had a name card. Heads of states and royalty on the right; French prime ministers (three alone in the front row), cabinet ministers and a Bourbon princess on the left.  
 
According to Matthew 19:24: “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” It’s clearly hard for them to get a front-row seat sometimes too. 

A dozen rows back from the world leaders, billionaires greeted each other: Elon Musk and John Elkann; Bernard Arnault and Francois Henri Pinault, CEOs and patrons of rival luxury giants LVMH and Kering, who pledged €200 million and €100 million, respectively, to renovate Notre Dame in the immediate aftermath of the fire that almost brought down the cathedral on April 15, 2019. The seating placed Arnault and Pinault in the same row.
 
“I made the decision to make this gift that very evening. And I visited Notre Dame the week after the fire with (Jean-Louis) Georgelin. They have done a great job,” explained Arnault, referring to the French General appointed to oversee the restoration before dying in a fall in the Pyrenees last year.
 
Underneath the beautifully restored Lutetian cream limestone columns, the shiny bronze chandeliers and the pink light of the rose windows, Arnault – who attended with all five of his children and their WAGs – mused: “Notre Dame is really the soul of France.”
 
In a remarkable outpouring of generosity, private donations in the wake of the fire ran at 40 per minute, raising some €780 million. Apparently leaving close to €200 for future renovations.
 
Prelates strode before the altar in their new equally creamy and graphic vestments designed by designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. Spiritual encountered temporal, as bishops took photos of the front-row place cards with their cellphones, noting President Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Jill Biden and Prince William as the most famous boldface names.
 
Despite several public announcements to knock off phones, hundreds of iPhones were raised high to record Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the Ukrainian president entered to a two-minute standing ovation. Only bettered by the five minutes of applause for the brave fireman who had fought through the night to save the two main bell towers. From where, the sound of the greatest bell boomed out a perfect F, indicating the beginning of the ceremony.

Many people had mocked Macron when he vowed on the day after the fire that Notre Dame would reopen even more gloriously within five years. With its spire collapsed, its roof down and its floor flooded, it seemed very improbable. But the French president was good for his word, as shown by Notre Dame’s phoenix like rebirth.
 

 
One person who never doubted in the project was Philippe Gourmain, founder of La Belle Foret who sourced the vital 20-meter-long key oak timbers that were the key to the roof. All told, over 2,000 French oaks were used, topped by classic sheets of lead.
 
“There was a lot of initial talk about using new technologies and methods. But once they made the decision to rebuild Notre Dame in the same materials and structure as before, I knew it would be possible,” explained Gourmain.
 
Attired in a blue safari jacket, with oak leaves peeking out his breast pocket, Gourmain underlined: “Due to the ongoing renovations, we knew the building intimately, every centimeter. Hence, we knew if it could stand for 800 years, it could do so for another 800!”
 
Historically, construction of the Notre Dame began back in 1163 – taking a century to be completed. Napoleon had his coronation in the great cathedral, though it was Victor Hugo’s classic literary novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” which probably ignited its international fame, later boosted by three Hollywood epics and a Disney animated film. Notre Dame truly is the great symbol of France, access to which will now be possible via an app – with some 13 million visitors expected annually.
 
Cleaned by a Latex solution, Notre Dame’s previously grimy chimeras and gargoyles, serpents and saints are now blonde. And its opening could not have come at a better time for Marcon. Though caught in a domestic political maelstrom, with his fifth prime minister just forced to resign this past week standing beside him, Macron nonetheless looked supremely self-confident. In effect, the brilliant restoration was always a great victory for France, and for the 2,000 artisans who labored to make the world’s greatest cathedral look more beautiful than ever. A welcome reminder that when the French unite and forget their differences, they can be a pretty unstoppable force.
 
After the finale, and the last chords of the “Te Deum”, the audience had been requested to remain in their seats until all the heads of state had departed. Musk, however, accompanied by two heavies and two lackeys, dashed to a side exit. 
 
Perhaps Elon had never read Proverbs 11:2? “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”