Admitting that people all across the world are suffering in the wake of a fire that almost destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday, a Facebook friend wants you to know that for her the pain is personal because during a 2014 visit to the city she took a selfie there.
“I know that many of you are still mourning the near loss of this great church, and that sharing this will open fresh wounds,” the friend wrote in a Facebook post late Monday night. “But I feel it’s my duty to inform you that five years ago, I stood in front of that magnificent façade, held my smartphone at an arm’s length, and took a photo.”
The friend went on to say that, unfortunately, she never made it inside because the line was too long, and that she didn’t have time anyway because trying to cram all of Paris into a two-day visit is really hard. Plus, she wanted to make it to Montmartre before it got too late.
“To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I had visited Notre Dame until I found this picture on my phone,” she said. “But seeing it brought back a flood of memories, from the pigeon that pecked near my feet, to the couple who asked me to take a photo of them, and I know I’ll never forget those two minutes I spent there.”