SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS Radio) -- San Francisco and the Bay Area joined the world in mourning the destruction at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. San Francisco expressed solidarity by lighting City Hall in the French
tricolor of blue, white and red.
Tonight we light San Francisco’s City Hall in solidarity with Mayor @Anne_Hidalgo and all Parisians. pic.twitter.com/bUIeTfi2Fp
— London Breed (@LondonBreed)
April 16, 2019 France's top Bay Area representative, San Francisco consul general Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, told KCBS Radio, "For us, Notre Dame is part of our identity. We can't imagine Paris carrying on without it."
The ties between the Bay Area and Paris are deep and long. The Pellier brothers, Louis and Pierre, arrived during the Gold Rush with cuttings from French fruit trees, launching what is now a multi-billion dollar California industry. The wine industry has long seen an intertwining of France and Northern California.
Today, 60,000 French people live in the Bay Area; San Francisco and Paris are sister cities (villes jumelles, or "twin cities", in French parlance). San Francisco's Grace Cathedral offers an architectural homage to Notre Dame in its Gothic influences.
By Tuesday, pledges of money to support a promised rebuilding effort were pouring in from major French corporations and wealthy individuals. Long Beach State University professor David Shafer has studied the history of Notre Dame and is certain it will live on. "There's a great spirit of collective grief and collective desire to rebuild this place," said Shafer in a KCBS Radio interview.
