The dim lights cast deep shadows in the aisles, the carols echoed in the nave, and the vault high above us was cloaked in darkness. One Christmas Barbara and I went to midnight Mass there. The feeling was bewildering, as if the earth was shaking. Something priceless was dying in front of our eyes. The sight dazed and disturbed us profoundly. You know what we saw on the screen: the wonderful Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the greatest achievements of European civilization, was on fire. She has weathered many crises as a Member of Parliament and a Cabinet minister, and is completely unflappable, but she sounded shocked. The voice on the phone belonged to an old friend. I did not yet know it, but the evening was going to be a long one. I had not drunk any wine, which turned out to be a good thing. I was at home, in the kitchen, with Barbara, my wife.
Today, they weep for her in every language. Its rays, more and more horizontal, slowly leave the pavement and climb the vertical façade to highlight the countless carvings against their shadows, until the great rose window, like the eye of a cyclops, is reddened as if by reflections from a furnace. It is when the sun, already sinking, shines almost directly on the cathedral. During such days of clear skies, warmth and peace, there comes a supreme moment at which to appreciate the portal of Notre-Dame. It was one of those spring days that are so gentle and pretty that all Paris treats them like Sundays, crowding the squares and the boulevards. Read moreĪt least 50p per copy on each sale of this book will go to the charity La Fondation du Patrimoine Contents A father and husband, Ken lives with his wife in England and enjoys travelling the world when he can.
One of the most popular authors in the world, his many books including the Kingsbridge series and the Century trilogy - a body of work which together chronicles over a thousand years of history - and his latest novel Never - which envisages how World War III could happen - have sold more than 188 million copies. He then astonished everyone with his first historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth, the story of the building of a medieval cathedral, which went on to become one of the most beloved books of the twentieth century. His first thriller, the wartime spy drama Eye of the Needle, became an international bestseller and has sold over 10 million copies. After studying philosophy at University College London, he became involved in centre-left politics, entering into journalism soon after. Barred from watching films and television by his parents, he developed an early interest in reading thanks to a local library.
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