As Notre-Dame reopens, Macron stands in ashes of French political edifice

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron looks up during a visit to Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris, on November 29, 2024. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - The reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, five years after being devastated by a fire, was supposed to be Emmanuel Macron's triumph.

The French president has often used the reconstruction of Notre-Dame as a parable for his own fortunes, repeating that he was ridiculed in 2019 when he promised to rebuild it in five years and that, defying sceptics, he got the job done.