High-wire artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope soaring over Paris to the second level of the Eiffel Tower on Saturday and said later his biggest problem was trying not to have too much fun.
With a brisk breeze blowing off the Seine River, Petit leaped onto the rope at the Palais de Chaillot and walked 2,300 feet on a cord set at a 16-degree angle to the Eiffel Tower's second level, 330 feet above the sidewalk.Thousands of people watched breathlessly as he crossed the length of more than seven football fields on a wire as thin as three pencils, occasionally stopping to salute the graceful tower.
On his balancing bar was a copy of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the enduring statement of social justice and liberty that emerged from the French Revolution in 1789.
"My head was full of pure and beautiful things, I felt a profound joy, almost like a child, an engulfing elation," Petit said afterward, looking windswept and tired but triumphant.
"The hardest part was not letting my joy surpass the control I needed to continue. I was invaded by a joy that was almost dangerous because I had my life in my hands."
With well-wishers and the press on hand, Petit announced that his next walk would be across the Grand Canyon next summer.
Petit, known for his dangerous walks between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral and New York's World Trade Center, slid down a gossamer thin rope to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and delivered the declaration text into the hands of Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac.
The walk was the highlight of celebrations marking the bicentennial of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Partying continued Saturday night at a concert sponsored by President Francois Mitterrand under the monumental cube of the new Arche de la Defense.