French slackliner wows crowd with Eiffel Tower performance

PARIS: Slackliner Nathan Paulin drew applause from a watching crowd in Paris as he completed a 600-metre crossing on Saturday from the Eiffel Tower to the other side of the river Seine.

Paulin, 27, moved along the slackline suspended 70 metres above the ground, at one point sitting and lying on the rope before arriving at the Chaillot Theatre at the end of the half hour performance.

“It’s really beautiful starting from the Eiffel Tower,” he said. “During the performance, I really didn’t feel it, I really didn’t have a fear of heights.”

Paulin said Saturday’s feat followed four years of practice, not to mention overcoming his childhood fear of heights.

In 2019, the Frenchman conducted a 150-metre-high, 510-metre-long slackline walk between two skyscrapers at Paris’ La Defense business district.