President Emmanuel Macron canceled a major speech on the “Yellow Vest” protests that have roiled the country. “Like all of our fellow citizens, I am sad tonight to see this part of us burn,” he said on Twitter. Thousands of French citizens lined the banks of the Seine, many in tears or unable to speak, watching the flames gut the cathedral, which had survived two world wars intact. In one video that was widely circulated online, a crowd near the cathedral sang a hymn together as the flames rose into the fading evening light. Sylvie Lacour, who lived near the cathedral for eight years, watched it burn on television from Bordeaux.

Source: New York Times April 15, 2019 19:59 UTC