Paris (AFP)

Agile and subtle, Simon Nogueira roams the rooftops of Paris. At the time of confinement, this freerun follower continues to climb to revel in an exceptional panorama of a city that has become dazzling.

Black cap on his head, socks adorned with smiling smiley, validated certificate for a one-hour getaway, Simon Nogueira arrives on his skateboard in complete relaxation at the door of an eight-story Haussmann building.

A French window at the end of the corridor on the top floor opens onto a black ladder anchored in a wall leading to the top of the building.

Silent, the muffled step, he reaches his playground in no time. In front of him, roofs as far as the eye can see between which stand the Eiffel towers and Montparnasse. A little further, on its right, the Sacré-Coeur seems to watch over the city.

"It's a crazy thing on the roofs, I can see far. Usually, there is always this light pollution, which obstructs the vision a lot. I have the impression that the vision is clear, there is minus this opaque curtain, which can occupy the space of the Parisian 360 panorama from time to time. I even have the impression that I see more stars ", rejoices this lover of Paris, who goes out on the roofs by day like at night to practice Freerun.

- Flirting with the void -

Affiliated with parkour, an urban discipline created by the Yamakasi in the 90s, Freerun is an art: that of passing obstacles with your body, between jumps and acrobatic figures, flirting with emptiness.

A job but also a way of life for Simon Nogueira, one of the stars of the practice, which we could see with the other members of the French Freerun Family team in the promotional video for the video game Assassin's Creed.

"I'm not always going to wander extremely far, it's up to the inspiration of the moment, the light is not bad, I ask myself, leaning against zinc, I have the impression of living like a cat, I do not plan. I do not see it badly, confinement ", explains the Parisian, used to take a breath of fresh air when leaving his home through the window of his apartment located on the 7th floor.

"I let myself be guided by the beauty of what I find there, here, then I go to the right, I find something beautiful, there is a big ray of sunshine there, I go there, then a suddenly I find a facade which is + scalable + ", he says, sitting on small chimneys.

- "One two Three Sun!" -

At the start of confinement, he was able to savor the silence as never before. Now, the noise is growing, from the streets where people are venturing more and more, as on the roof terraces, occupied by confined people who do not resist the call of the sun.

Not far from the freerunner, many of them gathered to party on the flat roof of a large building. "Come on! Come on! Come on! Feel the magic in the air! Raise your hands in the air!" They scream happily before playing "one, two, three, sun!".

Coming from below, a voice amplified by a megaphone reminds passers-by: it is a police car that paces this very residential district of the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

Simon Nogueira smiles. It is time to go back after having fed on the "very special energy" that he finds on the roofs. While waiting for the post-containment to be able to survey the top of the city for a long time, in search of discoveries.

"What I want to do is go far, to leave. All the more because I am confined. I can't wait to be able to meet humans again. I want to to live and go. "

Not far from him as the crow flies, another freerunner also a member of the French Freerun Family also patiently playing acrobats. In his living room. Johan Tonnoir, injured, is not running over the roofs at the moment. He takes the air perched on the windowsill.

© 2020 AFP