On April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as France's most cherished cathedral went up in flames. Writer and journalist Agnès Poirier witnessed the scene from her window on Paris's Left Bank, transfixed as 850 years of architectural, cultural and social history hung in the balance. Poirier has revisited that moment in her book "Notre-Dame: The Soul of France", as well as shedding light on some pivotal moments in the building’s history.
From its secular stint during the French Revolution to the crumbling setting of Victor Hugo's novel, Poirier explores the cathedral's status as a treasure of world heritage and discusses the ongoing efforts to restore it to its former glory.
