French slackliner wows crowd with Eiffel Tower performance

French acrobat Nathan Paulin walks on a slackline between the Eiffel Tower and the Theatre National de Chaillot as part of events around France for National Heritage Day in Paris, France, September 18, 2021. REUTERS

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

Paulin, 27, moved along the slackline suspended 70 meters 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-meter-high, 510-meter-long slackline walk between two skyscrapers at Paris’ La Defense business district.