Émile-Armand Benoit is a roofer-decorator. Named Best Worker in France in 2015, he participated in the renovation of Notre-Dame de Paris. Encounter.
It is rather unusual, in the context of writing a portrait, to meet your interlocutor lying in a gutter. “ A gutter », Corrects the person concerned. On this Wednesday in March, Émile-Armand Benoit is hard at work on the cloister of the sacristy of Our Lady, where the treasure of the cathedral was kept until the fire of April 15, 2019. The small building adjoining the choir was spared, but the years have slowly eaten away at its stone roof which therefore needs to be waterproofed. Respiratory mask on the nose, the craftsman welds the sheets of lead along the canal with the meticulousness of a surgeon suturing a wound.
To get to him, we first had to take a lead awareness course, go through the locker room to change completely, put on disposable underwear and coveralls, a pair of boots and a construction helmet. , and pass through two security gates. The interview is timed. The workers of Notre-Dame are launched into a time trial to return the building to the public; our man has bigger things to worry about than answering a journalist’s questions. He nevertheless lends himself to the exercise, willy-nilly, in the din of the work.
Five years later the fire that ravaged it, the cathedral is still trapped in its scaffolding. Only its arrow once again pierces the sky of Paris. Destroyed by the flames, the work of the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was rebuilt identically. It is also there, more than 90 meters high, that we would have found Émile-Armand Benoit if we had come a month earlier: he led the team responsible for installing his cover, as well as the hooks and “grand dukes” who sublimate it. Because the companion has double knowledge. A roofer, he is also an ornamentalist. Like an alchemist, he transforms lead into ornaments with which he adorns the roofs.
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Birth of a vocation
It was at the foot of another cathedral that Émile-Armand Benoit grew up: that of Amiens, an hour north of Paris. He has two younger sisters and parents who run a gourmet restaurant. “ This is how I built myself, admits the thirty-year-old, with an actor’s face and a Hollywood smile. My father didn’t necessarily have a great education, but he always sought to be at the highest level. » One day, during a village festival, one of their friends, a roofer by profession, introduced him to lead work. “ He told me : “Take my tools, prime the lead, deal with it.” So I tapped a piece of lead and, from a single sheet, I produced a horse’s head on a bronze die. »
Émile-Armand is 14 years old, and this initiation is a revelation. “ If he had made me work with zinc, I might not have had this trigger. » Although a good student, he gave up general studies and turned towards professional training in roofing. His decision surprised most of his teachers, who had already imagined him in medicine or law. In France, vocational education is often considered a bypass for struggling or disadvantaged students. His parents respect his choice. At one condition. “ My father told me: “You will be a roofer, but you will not be a simple roofer.” He did not want this profession to be a hobby or a simple livelihood; I had to deepen my know-how, to get to the end of things. »
The young man learned to work with different metals and trained as an ornamentalist within a historic monument restoration company. There he sharpens his vision in space, his sense of gesture, this ability to bring matter to life. He discovers a “ passion » for this job and the feeling of freedom it provides when you are perched on the roofs. In 2015, he took the exam for Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a symbol of excellence in craftsmanship. For roofers, it consists of presenting a roof model as large as a Smart, made up of different materials worked in France – slate, tile, lead, copper, zinc, wooden shingles – while being harmonious .
Émile-Armand works up to 70 hours a week to then be able to devote himself entirely to its creation. For three months, all he did was that. But when it was time to present it, doubt assailed him. After spending so much time on his model, he only sees the flaws. It was ultimately received with flying colors. A turning point. “ When you are named Best Worker in France, the outlook of others changes, he observes. You are no longer just a roofer, you are someone who can be trusted. » No need to be recommended anymore, his MOF title is enough. This change in status is accompanied by another level of requirement. Correct work no longer satisfies him, he seeks perfection.
The taste of lead
On April 15, 2019, he was writing a quote when a friend sent him a photo of the cathedral in flames. He first thinks of a photomontage. He receives a second one, climbs onto the roof of his building where he sees the column of smoke and finally turns on his TV. He feels ” a big knot in the stomach “. Unlike thousands of curious people, he does not go to the site. He has no desire to do so, any more than he will want to watch films depicting the drama.
In the meantime, he set up his company. He ” do » mainly from co-ownership, alone repairs entire roofs of Haussmann buildings – he admits having “ a little difficult to delegate “. But he misses the historical monuments and lead work. The desire to return to one’s first loves. He confided in a friend who suggested he come “ have a little fun » on the skylights of the Château de Dampierre, in Yvelines. “ I then rediscovered the need to work on lead every day “, he says.
One thing led to another, and there he was at the top of the spire of Notre-Dame, “ happy and a little worried », as if dizzy by the scale of the project. “ It’s an extraordinary site in every way: the size, the number of companies working there, the cranes… I’ve never had a crane. » The first days, he admires the view. And then, very quickly, all about his work, he no longer sees her. “ Whether it was snowing, raining or winding, we had to move forward. » As a team leader, he must think of everything and for everyone. The task is demanding, physically and psychologically. After three months “ very, very intense », Émile-Armand Benoit returns to the workshop, not sorry to finally be able to breathe. He will return in the fall.
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