A giant zip wire is installed on Paris' Eiffel Tower for adrenaline junkies
Do you want to know how fast a tennis ball goes? Zip down a line strung from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, 115 meters above the ground.
During the French Open and in association with tennis tournament Roland-Garros, bottled water vendor Perrier allows volunteers to zip down at 90 km/h, the speed of a tennis ball being smashed.
"The sensation will be very impressive at the start, they will have to take the plunge, it's an engaged zip line. But after it will be pleasure for one minute," said event director, Francoise Bresson.
Volunteer Julien Bidet, 39, said he both feared and loved the experience, while 19-year-old Celia Bresson said she had plunged into the emptiness without a doubt in her mind.
"I'm very excited and very impatient but no, frankly no fear. Frankly I really like heights so I'm not at all impressed," said 19-year-old student, Celia Bresson.
Parisians and tourists who take the plunge will land on a platform in the Champs de Mars park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, next to the Perrier Village where spectators will be able to follow tennis matches on a big screen throughout the week.
"Well it's... the principal of the zip line is not a technical feat, it's quite current. Here, in this context, on the Eiffel Tower at 122 meters high, it is a premiere yes exactly," added Smash Perrier organizer, Thierry Reboul.
"Well just I was saying you have the feeling you are going to die, and then you die. You relive when you arrive here, it's just amazing. It's great, it's amazing," added Julien Bidet.
