"Notre-Dame is far more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower or the grand boulevards ever could be. It was here, on the Île de la Cité, that this beautiful city was born, and the cathedral raised in the center of the island in the 12th century was meant to proclaim the glory of God and the political, economic and cultural might of a rising kingdom. Notre-Dame is still the point from which all distances are measured in France."

-Serge Schmemann, a member of The New York Times editorial board, writing this week on the opinion page of the newspaper.