A BRITISH man who visited the Notre Dame cathedral in 2003 is telling everyone how badly the fire has affected him.
Julian Cook, aged 31, has been stressing his personal and emotional connection with the Paris landmark which he believes he visited on a school trip when he was 15.
Colleague Joanna Kramer said: “Julian just kept looking at a news story about the fire, sighing, and staring vacantly at the air-conditioning unit.
“When someone made the mistake of asking what was wrong, he said he just couldn’t stop thinking about how the heart had been ripped out of one of the great treasurehouses of European civilisation and sorry if he cried.
“He said he’d considered not coming in but decided to soldier on through the heartache, but please excuse his shudders of agony at the thought of the place in flames. I didn’t even know he’d been to France.”
Cook said: “I still remember the breathtaking view across Paris from the top of its iconic white steps. Oh shit that’s the Sacré-Cœur, isn’t it? I’ve mixed it up with the Sacré-Cœur.”