A search to find the man and child captured in an infectiously joyful photo in front of Notre Dame Cathedral before the destructive fire has gone viral on social media.
The picture shows the man twirling the young girl around in front of the world-famous landmark. They’re all smiles, and 23-year-old tourist from Michigan, Brooke Windsor, who snapped the shot says she captured the scene just moments before the storied cathedral became engulfed in flames. The duo appears to be thrilled, a sentiment no doubt shared by countless visitors every day over the years.
I took this photo as we were leaving #NotreDame about an hour before it caught on fire. I almost went up to the dad and asked if he wanted it. Now I wish I had. Twitter if you have any magic, help him find this ???????? pic.twitter.com/pEu33ubqCK
— Brooke Windsor (@brookeawindsor) April 16, 2019
“Twitter if you have any magic, help him find this,” she wrote in a Monday night tweet that has garnered 207,300 likes as of Tuesday morning. The observant visitor later wrote that the photo at 5:57 at night in Paris, and she doesn’t know the pair’s relationship, but is keen to track them down.
The sunny image captured a fleeting pocket of joy before the blaze caused extensive damage before it was extinguished. The flames collapsed the spire of the iconic 850-year-old landmark.
It would soon become a solemn scene where thousands, and some knelt to sing “Ave Maria.”
Ave Maria pic.twitter.com/lb6Y5XV05a
— Ignacio Gil (@Inaki_Gil) April 15, 2019
