Notre-Dame bells ring

RESTORED: OLD LADY COMES BACK TO LIFE AS IT GETS READY TO REOPEN

The bells of Notre-Dame in Paris rang out together yesterday for the first time since a 2019 fire that devastated the historic cathedral.

The sound of the eight bells in Notre-Dame's northern belfry came a month before the cathedral is to reopen following five years of painstaking restoration work in the wake of the blaze.

"This is a beautiful, important and symbolic step," said Philippe Jost, who runs the public body tasked with restoring the cathedral under challenging circumstances.

Notre-Dame in one month will welcome back visitors and worshippers after a sometimes challenging restoration to return to its former glory the great Paris cathedral badly damaged by a devastating 2019 fire.