Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you most likely have heard that Notre Dame had a devastating fire. It burned the entire roof, causing the spire to collapse. The fire burned the church and a hole in the world’s hearts.
I am glad that I was fortunate enough to have visited the cathedral on several trips. These pictures are from my trip in April 2015. The day we visited was a beautiful day… 70s degrees. Really felt like the first day of Spring. The Parisians were leaving work early on a Friday afternoon and were sitting along the Seine and all in the parks. The spire collapsed. The roof as you see it below is gone. The rooster weathervane that sits on top of the spire was found however, in a street nearby. Partially damaged but likely restorable.
The front of the church is still standing after the fire. The bell towers did not catch fire and the bells are undamaged!
This beautiful rose window survived. 
Most of the roof as you see it in this photo has fallen and is partially destroyed. Now, not ALL of it is gone. As you can see, the roof is made of stone. Some of the roof below crumbled when the spire collapsed. 
I wish I had taken more pictures on this trip… now of course I am upset I didn’t! I have visited several times – one time I heard the pipe organ playing! What a treat. The pipe organ was not burned, but it will likely have to be repaired from the soot and ash that made its way into the pipes.
It is unknown how much damage there has been to the precious artifacts and stained glass. 
The main rose window below still stands! In fact, all three rose windows survived the fire. These windows are from the 12th and 13th centuries.
At first there were reports the rose window below was damaged, then I read it did survive! They said they have yet to inspect for up close damage, but from far away all of the panels are present and do not appear to be broken.
Even though all three rose windows still stand, some stained glass windows are damaged. I know in pictures some were broken. The archbishop stated though the other glass windows that broke were much newer. Yeah, haha, “new” from the 1800s… for France that is “new”!!! In fact the Archbishop said “These are windows of the 19th century, much less important that they could be touched, but not the jewels of the 13th century. That’s a little bit of a miracle. We are very relieved,” Finot said.
The front door to the church. The intricate iron carvings deserve time to be admired as well. The door survived the fire.
This is the portico on the front of church.
It is unknown how many gargoyles survived. We never did the gargoyle and roof tour as it cost more money…. now I am kicking myself we didn’t do it! 
I am happy that flying buttresses survived too, but alas there is no roof and no spire 🙁 What a sad day for the world to lose such a precious gem in a matter of minutes. I know they will rebuild it… but President Macron thinks it will be done in 5 years! That made me laugh out loud!! I am certain this is at minimum 30 year restoration project!
If you want to see many more pictures of the church before the fire, including roof top pictures and see the beautiful wood beams that are gone, as well as gargoyle pictures, visit Check Out Sam.
I’d love to hear about your trips to Notre Dame!
