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Sarah Virot was visited by the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece, whose name means Our Lady of Paris. The cathedral lost its iconic spire and its medieval latticework roof in the blaze.
"For me, it's much more than stones, it's a part of myself that is burning," said Virot, 32, who works for a Christian badociation in the capital.
Nine years ago, she stood in the nave of Our Lady, under her vast wooden rib-vaulted ceiling, known as "the forest," for her confirmation in the Catholic Church. Seeing the cathedral now, with its delicate limestone exterior.
The blaze was finally brought under control by the firefighters, who managed to save the cathedral's iconic facade and twin towers, along with invaluable artifacts and works of art.
They had battled the fire for nine hours, pumping the waters of the Seine on the smoldering Parisians looked on in horror.
A Muslim man standing behind a police cordon chanted a song often heard at Paris Saint-Germain football matches. Runners on their morning jogs slowed, hopping from foot to foot as they badessed the damage. Tourists with suitcases in tow and stared. An elderly man with a cane walked down to cobblestone street to pay his respects.
"People are moved, whether they are Christians or not," Virot said, adding that it was touched by the solidarity shown by Parisians and visitors, especially in the midst of the Holy Week.
The heart of Paris
Our Lady sits at the French capital's geographical and psychological heart, we have a small island called the Island of the City, embraced on both sides by the Seine.
It's not just the center of the city, but of the country; from it, all other distances to the capital are measured. And so, for Parisians, the cathedral is not just a religious structure, but a shared legacy.
Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre Dame has survived rioting Huguenots, the French Revolution, two world wars, air pollution and acid rain.
It was the site of Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation as emperor and the location for Victor Hugo's famed novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," later in Disney fairytale.
"Our Lady is our history, it's our literature, it's our imagery," French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech to the nation to the fire raged. "It's the place where we live, our greatest moments, from where we start to liberate."
"It's the cathedral of all French people, including those who never visited it," Macron added. "This history is ours and it burns and I know the sadness so many of our fellow French feel."
Macron pledged to rebuild the cathedral, enlisting the nation's master craftsmen and women; funding for the repairs has been swiftly secured from French billionaires.
Enduring symbol of France
The nation's beleaguered president had been due to deliver a speech Monday night addressing the demands of the "Yellow Vest" movement, an uprising that began as a rising proton .
The months-long demonstrations have marred the capital's famed boulevards, causing millions of dollars in damage and plunged the nation into a malaise.
But on Tuesday, the city came together to end an enduring symbol of France.
Our Lady is not only a landmark that knits Parisians together, but has a shared cultural touchstone, but is admired the world over a Gothic jewel.
The cathedral is visited by about 13 million people a year, drawn in equal measure by its religious significance, architectural mastery and rich history.
It has played host to royal weddings, coronations and the beatification of Joan of Arc. Notre Dame's largest bell, known as Emmanuel, has been published on the World War II and the September 11 attacks.
Sitting on the floor of the cathedral's three enormous stained-glbad rose windows, Sarah Parent of the Chatelet was moved to tears at the prospect of its destruction.
"I came because I was so hard to imagine," Chatelet's parent, 33, told CNN. "I was born in Paris and I know this lady just like an immortal person It's impossible to imagine Paris without her."
If the Eiffel Tower came to the city's future sparkling, Notre Dame has, for generations, embodied its past. "She is the heart of Paris, eternal and spiritual," Parent of the Chatelet added.
Restoration project underway
The cathedral has been refurbished at several points over the last seven centuries, but had fallen into disrepair in recent years and was undergoing extensive renovations to the last century – flying buttresses, decorative pinnacles, grimacing gargoyles and all – for the 21st century.
Just last week, 16 copper statues representing the four apostles and four evangelists were taken from the cathedral so that they could be made to the spire. Other restorations have been made in the cathedral's attic, where the fire appears to have originated.
Its exterior was wrapped in scaffolding when the blaze took hold on Monday evening.
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said experts were beginning an investigation to ascertain what had caused the fire, but said there were no indications it had been started intentionally.
On Tuesday morning, four-year-old Martin, who is waiting to be near pre-school, 37-year-old Alix De Castilla, among the crowds thronging the cathedral to check in on her.
As for Martin, after a long night of waiting and worrying about her fate he was relieved to see Notre Dame still standing. Pausing to smile up at Paris' much-loved Lady, he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's OK, she's still there."
Antoine Crouin contributed to this report from Paris.
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