Punctual, Santa Claus.
Wednesday evening, 6 p.m., bells ring, a sleigh pulled by reindeer lights up above the Tuileries Christmas market (Paris I)… On board, Santa Claus, of course.
At 22 meters high, very precisely, he greets the crowd and rushes, suspended by a rope.
Downstairs, the children don't miss a beat.
"Every day is a great pleasure for me", explains Alois Traber, a German tightrope walker who wears the costume of Santa Claus, every evening at 6 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. (plus another passage at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday).
“I look down and I see all the families, the children, their eyes wide open, with a big smile.
It's incredible ".
To read alsoParis: it is 6 p.m., Santa Claus appears in the sky of the Tuileries…
Impression confirmed 22 meters below.
"He was so cool", comments Hamed, 4 years old.
"It was like a movie," says Annia, 7.
Still, the older ones are not fooled, like Inès, 8 and a half years old: “I really appreciated it because it felt like it was flying.
I saw the little wire hanging up”.
"I always concentrate five minutes before the performance, explains Alois Traber, "Like the pilot of an airplane, I do the technical check of the sled and its two motors, electric to move forward and hydraulic to turn".
The passage is well-rehearsed and a pre-recorded voiceover is broadcast when Aloïs Traber, stationary sledge, pretends to address the children.
At 45, he comes from a family of tightrope walkers who got into the business… “in 1512”.