Another RCOB?

Oh, why not:

Conservative French politicians expressed concern Thursday about the prospect of modern architecture being added to Notre-Dame cathedral after the government invited design proposals for a new roof and spire.
Politicians from France’s right-wing Republicans and far-right National Rally (RN) party called on the government to restore the cathedral exactly as it was before the devastating fire broke out on Monday evening.
French President Emmanuel Macron has set a five-year target for the reconstruction to be completed and has said ‘an element of modern architecture could be imagined.’

Of course  it could be imagined… in FrogPres Macron’s own tiny little Tranzi-modernist brain.  Amongst normal-thinking people, however, it would be a disgusting insult.

Towards the end of the linked article, there’s this thought:

One of the most controversial additions to Paris in recent times was the glass pyramid built in front of the Louvre palace in central Paris.
Hated by many Parisians when it was unveiled by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei, it has celebrated its 30th birthday and has become an attraction in its own right.

I remember standing outside the Louvre in (I think) 2005, chatting to an older French man who’d stepped outside for a cigarette.  I pointed at the pyramid and asked him what he and his friends thought of it.  He snorted.

“I tell you, mon ami,” he said, “if those Arab terrorists had flown an airliner into this  foul thing [cette chose répugnante], in France they would have been considered heroes and not terrorists.”

Here’s another take.

And from Michael Brendan Dougherty comes this exquisite sentiment:

“I promise right now. If you try to rebuild it as a ‘secular’ Notre Dame, reflecting the political priorities of 2019, I will do my damndest to see that the next fire takes it all down. I won’t come alone.”

Sign me up, Mike.