"Grabbing, there's no other word… Grabbing" Evan couldn't believe it.
This young German quadra came from Cologne to admire the packaging of the Arc de Triomphe by Christo.
This Saturday morning, there is a crowd on Place de l'Étoile, which is exceptionally pedestrianized until Sunday.
The horns and sounds of the engine have given way to a soothing silence that is almost timeless.
At the exit of the metro station at the top of the Champs-Élysées, the crowd is compact, comparable to that of a big football match or a concert.
Suddenly, a young woman stops.
Moved to tears, she takes out her cell phone and video calls her parents to show the immensity of the packaging.
“You have to come to Paris to see this, you can't miss it,” she implores, moved.
A first roadblock checks the sanitary passes.
At the foot of the building, on the road, thousands of people of all ages take out their laptops and selfie sticks to immortalize the moment.
Only a privileged few managed to reserve a slot to be able to enter the building and… admire the roof terrace, covered with this famous silver recyclable fabric held together by strong red ropes.
VIDEO.
Parisians more or less excited by the packaging of the Arc de Triomphe
“It's so much more impressive to see him here than in a photo,” says Evan, with his two children.
People walk around quietly, meet.
In Germany, Christo has been a star since he packaged the Reichstag.
He has a strong community of fans who made the trip for the weekend, like me, with family.
Besides, my mom, whom I spoke to on the phone this morning, told me that the Arc de Triomphe is running on a loop on the news channels at home.
"
Consequence: the building services had to respond to an enormous amount of demand for accreditation from the German media.
“I went especially to New York to see his previous work
(in 2005 in Central Park),
I couldn't miss this one, says Catherine, a retiree from Isère.
I have wonderful memories of it and this new installation is just as breathtaking.
It belongs to everyone, the reflections on the silver fabrics are magnificent.
I even prefer the Arc de Triomphe like this.
I will be coming back to it all week.
"" The planets are aligned with this great blue sky, slips Jean-Yves, who came to collect a piece of the fabric distributed free of charge as a souvenir by hostesses.
And after two years of a pandemic, it feels great that people find themselves in the middle of an event like this.
"
Read also Paris: the incredible packaging of the Arc de Triomphe by Christo in eight images
On the monument side, we even expect a record attendance. “Since the start of the week, there has been a lot more traffic than usual, slip the building managers. We didn't expect so many people. "
