French president Emmanuel Macron offers first glimpse of post-fire Notre Dame

France is to offer the world a first look inside the restored Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Friday over five years after the fire that ravaged the interior of the heritage landmark and toppled its spireEight days ahead of the December 7 reopening of the cathedral President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection broadcast live on television which provided the first official insight into how the 850yearold edifice now looks insideEven more beautiful than before in the renewed radiance of the blonde stones and the colour of the chapels Macron said in a statement released to media on the eve of the visit The building site of the century was a challenge that many considered insane the president addedNotre Dame will welcome back visitors and worshippers over the December 78 weekend after a sometimes challenging restoration to return to its former glory the great Paris cathedral badly damaged by the April 19 2019 fireMacron at the time set the ambitious goal to rebuild Notre Dame within five years and make it even more beautiful than before a target that the French authorities say has been metThe French president is hoping the opening of Notre Dame will be a major feather in his cap amid the current political deadlock following early parliamentary elections this summer World leaders are expected to join but the guest list has yet to be unveiledSome 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilised for a restoration costing hundreds of millions of euros in what was dubbed the building site of the century All 2000 people who contributed to the work have been invited to Fridays event of whom at least 1300 are expected to attendThis final site visit is an opportunity to thank them in particular from wood craftsmen to those of metal and stone from scaffolders to roofers from bell makers to art restorers from gilders to masons and sculptors from carpenters to organ builders from architects archaeologists engineers and planners to logistical and administrative functions Macron said ahead of the visit Accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron was expected from 1030 am 0930 GMT to inspect the key areas of the cathedral including the nave choir and chapel and discuss the restoration in person with the workersThe restoration cost a total of nearly 700 million euros more than 750 million at todays rate It was financed from the 846 million euros in donations that poured in from 150 countries in an unprecedented surge of solidarityMajor reopening expected The 19thcentury gothic spire has now been resurrected with an exact copy of the original the stained windows have regained their colour the walls shining after fire stains cleaned and a restored organ ready to thunder out againUnseen to visitors is a new mechanism to protect against any future fires a discreet system of pipes ready to release millions of water droplets in case of a new disasterNotre Dame which welcomed 12 million visitors in 2017 expects to receive an even higher figure of 14 to 15 million after the reopening according to the church authorities French ministers have also floated the idea of charging tourists an entrance fee to the site but the Paris diocese has said free admission was an important principle to maintain