Live updates: Notre Dame bells ring for the first time since fire

Members of the public eager to visit Notre Dame now that the famed cathedral is officially open can now book tickets online, at no cost, of course.

"Notre-Dame Cathedral is open to all, freely and without charge," the cathedral's website said, noting that the first available slots went online today.

Booking online is "entirely optional," it notes, with visitors also able to make their way to the cathedral without a ticket. However, they can likely expect long lines in the immediate wake of the cathedral's reopening, with a visit to the ticketing page already leading to a "queue" due to a high frequency of visitors.

The website encourages people to check back even if maximum capacity is temporarily reached, saying new visitor slots will be regularly made available.

Today's entire service has been accompanied by the choirs of the Notre Dame de Paris Choir School, a training center for young singers.

Their voices rang out during the rite of the opening of the doors and filled the air with music as the cathedral's doors swung open with a burst of song for the first time in five years.

The choir school effectively lost its home in the 2019 fire that destroyed much of the cathedral's roof and its iconic spire, forcing its closure for years.

Today's service marks something of a homecoming for the choir school, with members also expected to perform during an inaugural mass tomorrow.

Jill Biden held tightly the hand of her daughter, Ashley, as the reopening ceremony took place. They both appeared moved by the organ dialogue with the archbishop.

In his message to Notre Dame and the French people, Pope Francis said he hoped for a “prophetic sign of the renewal of the church in France.”

He also emphasized the importance of welcoming visitors “generously and freely," a comment seemingly directed at the French culture minister’s controversial proposal for visitors to pay an entrance fee, which has caused debate and was largely rejected.

PARIS — Most have on jeans, some wear rough work boots, and one sings with a white construction helmet tucked under his arm. Gathered in the church hall before the altar, their song begins low and soft, surges and then sweeps through the Gothic-style church and up to its soaring stone ceiling.

The 80-strong choir has come together to do more than sing, though — the crew of architects, stonemasons, archaeologists, art historians, art conservators and others have helped rebuild Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral after a fire ripped through the iconic French Gothic masterpiece nearly five years ago.

Read more here.

Watching the Notre Dame's doors swing open to a burst of choir song marked an emotional moment for the thousands of people taking in the display from just outside the cathedral.

One man could be seen watching today's ceremony in silence, with tears running down his face. Others could be seen huddled together, their eyes shining.

"It's very moving to be here," said Ariane Ginnaros as she watched on with her husband, Clement Walter, and their young daughter, Thalie.

"It's a bit emotional and also a bit proud," Walter added, holding Thalie up on his shoulders.

In France, he said, "we are used to being so pessimistic about the capacity of the French government to actually manage a big task properly — and then eventually, it's here. We're so happy and proud."

Olivier Latry, who has served as Notre Dame’s organist for 40 years, is awakening the organ for its symbolic resurrection after the fire. The instrument, with 8,000 pipes, was painstakingly disassembled, cleaned and tuned after the 2019 fire.

The archbishop is blessing the organ, calling it to "wake up its harmony."

"Wake up, organ, sacred instrument," he chants, marking a symbolic moment in the ceremony.

The organ responds with music as 8,000 pipes come alive. There is symbolic dialogue between the archbishop and the organ.