He had already done it in 2017 for the Telethon.
It prevents.
Nathan Paulin has once again dared to make the crossing between the Eiffel Tower and the Palais de Chaillot… on a wire, on the occasion of Heritage Days.
"To do something beautiful and share it", loose the 27-year-old Frenchman, disarmingly simple, after his feat at a height of 70 m with a simple strap 2.5 cm thick under his feet.
A balanced walk over 670 m between the emblematic monument of the capital and the building on the Place du Trocadéro. Used to these performances, both sporting and artistic, the handsome kid, little sailor and jeans, has already crossed a huge space between two towers of La Défense, is used to mountains and very high altitude. Yet the most surprising thing about this boy of 1.97 m who made walking on a thread his job, it is… that he was afraid of heights. "Yeah, and it wasn't easy at first," he smiles. Besides, the first time I walked above the void, I didn't like it at all, he recalls. Then I made it low to the ground, I gained confidence and took a liking to it. "
The tightrope walker covered some 600 m under the eyes of astonished spectators, not hesitating to lie down or sit down during his course.
LP / Olivier Arandel
Sometimes to the point of making a show like this weekend.
“It was a rather spectacular crossing, over 600 m long, so I didn't have to hang around too much,” he confides.
When I lay down or sat in the middle of the crossing, it was not to rest, it was just repeated steps with a choreographer.
I do it when I am in the mountains to take the measure of the place, to connect with the environment.
And there, each time, I heard people react, it was great.
"
Under the eyes of anti-pass demonstrators
On the Place du Trocadéro, black with people, hundreds of onlookers had made the trip to admire the spectacle. “We knew there was a tightrope walker and I let myself be tempted, I was not disappointed, It was magnificent and my great fear did not occur… Fortunately, he did not fall! I didn't want to see a man die in front of my eyes at all, ”whispered Sandrine, who had come from Val-de-Marne for the occasion. Exercise is less dangerous than it looks. “I took no risk, I am attached. If I fall, it will do nothing to me, ”reassures the athlete, who has evolved under the eyes of unexpected spectators: the demonstrators of a rally against the health pass at the call of Florian Philippot. "At least, here, we don't need it," slipped a fifty-something, bundled up in his French flag on his shoulders.
For those who would like to attend the experience again, Nathan Paulin is back on his thread this Sunday. “I'm ready to start again at 1:30 pm. And I am happy because I will surely have less stress for the second time, so I will enjoy it a little more. It was less easy than I thought. I had tried to imagine what the crossing would be like, but being there is different. I had a lot of pressure walking with all these people around. I'm glad I arrived. And above all the view was awesome. "