In the capital, across France, and around the world, people watched in shock and horror as flames came close to destroying the medieval cathedral of Notre Dame

A French army marching song has a verse in which a girl is asked what she would give for the return of her dead soldier. In reply she offers the most precious treasures she can imagine:

Je donnerais Versailles, Paris et St Denis,
Les tours de Notre Dame
Et le clocher de mon pays.

France has other cathedrals – Chartres, Bourges, Strasbourg, Reims – that are equally beautiful, but no other building symbolises the entire country and its often tormented history. The crowds that gathered to watch the tragedy last Monday night had no political or religious identity; it was France that was burning. All French road signs giving the distance to Paris are measured from a stone placed in front of Notre Dame’s West Door. It is the heart of France.