This one falls under the category “never have I ever”.

On Monday, April 15, 2019, I took a photo with my mobile phone at exactly 18:46 GMT of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Monday 18:46, April 15, 2019, Notre Dame Cathedral as seen from the intersection at Rue Lagrange, Paris France

Only five minutes later, I first saw smoke and I had a bad feeling. It was strange that I just knew where it was coming from. What else could it be.

As I was trapped in a one way street and all exits were quickly blocked, I parked the car and witnessed a once in a lifetime disaster first hand. Never have I ever seen anything like this in my life.

To this day I remember the smell of burning oak and metal, the sobbing of people crying in disbelief and the noise of the French sirens. And then all was quiet and all you could hear was the crackling of a devastating fire eating the entire roof.

The fire tornado was so immense, that I felt the heat hot on my cheeks from where I was standing several hundred meters away on a bridge.

I missed the exact moment, because we had to evacuate the bridge, but I remember a crowd by the river Seine gasping in awe when the spire fell.