In celebration of its 850th anniversary, Notre Dame de Paris commissioned a new set of bells. The old set was installed in 1856 and had not been very well cared for. Modern reports accuse the 1856 bell foundry of using inferior quality metals and not even attempting to tune them. Naturally, the bells were in terrible condition and horribly out of tune anyway after 150 years, and everyone was excited for their replacement. The new set of 8 bells was installed in the cathedral just in time for Easter. The bells are named Marie, Gabriel, Anne-Geneviève, Denis, Marcel, Étienne, Benoît-Joseph (they were one pope behind on this one!), Maurice, and Jean-Marie. They join the large bell Emmanuel from the earlier set.
On the eve of Palm Sunday, we went to hear the bells ring out over Ile de la Cité for the first time ever. There was quite the crowd, and for good reason. The short performance was spectacular. After a ritualistic booing of the Paris mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, and a hymn sung by the Notre Dame children's chorus, the bells were rung in order, each adding onto the song of the previous one. I took a short video of the performance that I hope you'll enjoy.
If you want to learn more about the bells, there is a summary on Notre Dame's website in French here. Anglophones can find the NPR story in English here.
