Joyful Moment Captured at Notre-Dame Before the Devastating Fire Goes Viral

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.

“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.”