Paris (AFP)

Its arrow has fallen but it remains "iconic": the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral still attracts tourists from all over the world, six months after the fire that ravaged its roof.

"There is no church like that in Denmark," marvels Ulrik Pach, looking up to admire the gargoyles that survived the flames.

With his three friends, they did not ask themselves if they would come to see the cathedral. "In Copenhagen you would go see the little mermaid, even if she was beheaded!", He says, referring to the iconic statue of the Danish capital.

Several meters above the ground, under the gaze of the gargoyles, is played the ballet of the workmen who, solidly harnessed, repair and hammer the stones.

Between the beige palisades that protect the site and souvenir shops, reopened since, there are dozens to come to admire, like him, the cathedral - or what remains of it.

If the figures are lacking for the building's attendance - logically closed to visits since April 15 - the capital enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the second quarter, with a 5.3% increase in hotel arrivals in Greater Paris, according to the report. 'Tourist Office.

An increase in arrivals of which Notre-Dame has also benefited.

Vigies of the frequentation of the places, the booksellers who line the quays saw the crowd hurry in the first weeks after the fire.

"Until June, it was pretty stifling," says Véronique Baudon, who sells posters and books on the banks of the Seine for over 30 years. "There was a lot, a lot, of passage, a lot of people, now it's calmer, it's back to normal."

A few more postcards of the building have been selling since April 15th.

Tourists come, go, and take selfies in front of the scaffolding, she says, a little bruised by the "Colgate smiles" posted in front of the yard, which remind her of her daily sorrow.

- "My lighthouse" -

Peter Amys and his wife, from Des Moines, in the United States, are all smiles in front of the south facade, which runs along the Seine.

"We would have come whatever," they explain, while the other participants of their tour went to have a coffee. "It's great that they are already rebuilding, and we are very happy to see that much of the building has been saved."

Samantha and Paul Michum came from Cape Town to spend a week in Paris. The fire was "tragic", say the two South Africans, observing the scarred silhouette of the building. But "you had to come in. It's such an iconic place that you have to see it, whether it's under construction or not."

From the front, only the absence of the arrow - and the palisades that prevent access to the forecourt - hint at the fire. But on the sides, the view of the scaffolding reminds that the roof went up in smoke.

For Dennis, who comes from California, the drama has not taken anything away from the cathedral, on the contrary: it is "a little more personality, a new stone added to its long history".

The tighter heart, Anne-Marie, came from the Nièvre with her husband, is there "to pay tribute". With deep inside her a little fear "that one day or the other, she does not collapse".

"Very angry", strafing the facade with a sigh, she does not count the times she took her grandchildren or friends from abroad to visit Notre-Dame. "My lighthouse in Paris, it was not the Eiffel Tower, it was Notre-Dame".

© 2019 AFP