Macron Pays Tribute to General Georgelin at Notre-Dame

AFP

Notre-Dame: Macron salutes the memory of General Georgelin at the Invalides

“Where there is a will, there is a way”: Emmanuel Macron paid a vibrant tribute to General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the manager of the Notre-Dame restoration site who died accidentally in the mountains, during a ceremony Friday at the Invalides.”Workaholic”, “leader of men”, “exemplary servant”: the President of the Republic greeted the former chief of staff of the armies and the strategist of the restoration of the famous cathedral of Paris ravaged by a fire in April 2019.” On December 8, 2024, we will find Notre-Dame (…) You will be there my general”, “we will think of you, I will think of you”, launched Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and many members of the government, in front of the coffin placed in the heart of the courtyard of the Invalides. Notre-Dame de Paris, the whole Nation will still hear you We will hear your voice laughing, growling, declaiming (..) patriotic voice, voice of France, canticle of canticles. Then we can say thank you. Farewell my general, concluded the Head of State. General Georgelin had been chosen by Emmanuel Macron to orchestrate the reconstruction of Notre-Dame in five years and its reopening in 2024. He died on August 18 at the age of 74 years old during a mountain outing in Ariège. A detachment of the Paris fire brigade lined the steps of the Saint-Louis des Invalides cathedral, where a mass preceded the ceremony, in tribute to the fight against the fire they led to save the cathedral. This former pupil of Saint-Cyr, chief of the private staff of President Jacques Chirac in 2002, had been promoted to general of the army in 2003. Chief of staff of the French armies (Cema) from 2006 to 2010, he had supervised operations in the Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, in the Balkans or in Lebanon. Originally from Aspet (Haute-Garonne), this single five-star general, born on August 30, 1948, was cultured, not very worldly, sober, and his Catholic faith as rooted as it is discreet, according to those close to him. His funeral will be celebrated on August 31 in his native village of Aspet, in Haute-Garonne.vl/jmt/dch