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Europe
French billionaire pledges €100 million to rebuild Notre Dame
2019-04-16
[The Hill] A French billionaire has pledged to donate 100 million euros to help rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral after the historic building was engulfed in a fire Monday.

Francois-Henri Pinault, who owns the French luxury group Kering, made the pledge to AFP. Kering owns luxury fashion brands including Gucci and Saint Laurent.

"My father [Francois Pinault] and I have decided to release as of now from the funds of Artemis a sum of 100 million euros to participate in the effort that will be necessary for the complete reconstruction of Notre Dame," Pinault said in a statement, according to BuzzFeed News.

Monday's massive blaze destroyed much of the cathedral, including its spire and stained-glass windows.

After originally believing that the fire would destroy the entire building, authorities later said that the cathedral had been saved from "total destruction" and that the structure's iconic bell towers were intact.

Police told CNN on Monday evening that the fire was under control.
Posted by:Besoeker

#10  I finally found out why I lost Salma Hayek to this clown
Posted by: Frank G   2019-04-16 19:31  

#9  Some of the politicos have ruled out arson before the investigation has started.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-04-16 17:54  

#8  "On Tuesday, the family of his arch-rival, Bernard Arnault, who owns the luxury group LVMH, announced a €200 million donation. Others raised the total to nearly $700 million, including $50 million from the City of Paris." Reported at Drudge.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-04-16 17:44  

#7  I'm just glad it wasn't worse. Props to the firefighters on saving most of the building.
Posted by: DarthVader   2019-04-16 09:01  

#6  linky at Instapundit - “But because it survived largely intact into the digital era, Notre Dame lives on in the virtual world, too—and that may make its restoration all the more complete. For the last half-decade or so, an architectural historian named Andrew Tallon worked with laser scanners to capture the entirety of the cathedral’s interior and exterior in meticulous 3D point clouds.”

If you don't have the architects' drawings, you do have a backup.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-04-16 08:21  

#5  It seems that - and it would be a miracle - that the priceless 13 century roses are still intact. At least this is what one eyewitness, the speaker of the cathedral, says:

"De ce que j'ai pu voir, les vitraux n'avaient pas été touchés, les trois belles roses qui datent des 12e et 13e siècle étaient encore là", explique sur BFM Paris André Finot, porte-parole de la cathédrale, qui a pu pénétrer dans la nef durant la nuit."

https://www.bfmtv.com/culture/notre-dame-de-paris-les-vitraux-des-rosaces-intacts-l-orgue-epargne-par-les-flammes-1674129.html#page/contribution/index

This would be fantastic.
Posted by: European Conservative   2019-04-16 08:02  

#4  I'm still not ruling out a mosque attachment somehow.

My guess is you'll not be waiting long.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-04-16 07:17  

#3  They don't make them like they used to.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-04-16 07:15  

#2  Mike, it will still be worse when the politicians get there look in.

I'm still not ruling out a mosque attachment somehow.
Posted by: AlanC   2019-04-16 07:11  

#1  ...The pictures coming from Notre Dame this morning are, quite frankly, amazing - the roof, spire, and rose windows of course are gone, but the interior looks intact and undamaged to an extent that I simply would not have believed last night. It's going to take every cent (or Euro) of that money to get her back to normal, but it could have been far, far worse.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2019-04-16 04:24  

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