"Philippe" "It was tense, but we were eager to get going." "Everything was ready." "Jean-Louis" "I remember the extremely tense silence in the van." "Alan was absolutely sombre," "Philippe extremely tense." "Annie As for me I was petrified very worried." "I was disguised as a workman with a helmet, a shirt..." "Jean-François To look like an American, I had lot of pens in my pocket." "That's typically American, apparently." "David aka "Donald"" "Alan aka "Alberf"" "And Philippe said to me:" ""I know what's going to happen we are going to go in, and we're going to get caught."" "He could no longer carry on living without having at least tried to to conquer those towers because it felt like those towers belonged to him." "It was as if they had been built especially for him." "I was twenty years old." "And I was a painfully shy young girl." "I was very surprised by this individual." "and even more surprised when he began to chase me relentlessly, having just met me." "He would bring me flowers, arrange little dates, send me love letters." "I was completely overwhelmed, bowled over, harpooned, that's what it was." "He introduced me to his wire." "a wire set up at the end of a garden." "I would spend hours watching him walk." "He wasn't that experienced at the time." "He was just beginning his life as a tightrope walker." "We became inseparable." "In fact my life was completely consumed by his." "And he never thought to ask me whether I had my own destiny to follow." "It was quite clear I had to follow his." "Jean-Louis Childhood friend" "Jean-Louis had told me right away that it was illegal." "Jean-François Accomplice" "So I knew it was illegal, but of course that's what got me a bit excited!" "Against the law, but not wicked or mean." "It was wonderful!" "Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, June 197 1" "Then Philippe appeared on the wire." "It was amazing." "I went inside, all excited, and I leant over the nave and saw that a huge ceremony was taking place in Notre Dame." "There were a dozen or so priests dressed all in white, arm crossed." "They were lying on the floor, their heads against the floor." "I was staggered, dumbstruck." "The organist asked me:" ""What are you doing here?"" "I said to him: "There's a wirewalker up there on the towers!"" "This gentleman looked at me with an expression of wonder." "and he said;" ""Oh, really!" "A wirewalker!" "How amazing!"" "South Tower 3.58pm" "We drove the van inside." "We got through the first security barrier." "We presented the company documents and the fake invoices." "Everything was quite carefully planned." "North Tower 4.25pm" "The time had come for us to part." "There was a real madness in his eyes, a real rage." "It was truly: " I'm going to do this, no matter what, now is the time" ." "And he held me in his arms as if we would never see each other again." "Sydney, Australia June 1973" "Mark "The Australian"" "One day he showed me a photo of two buildings in a magazine." "And then I was a bit frightened." "It was inhuman to want to go and walk up there, 450 meters high." "This was all becoming demonic." "I just wanted to say: "Stop!"" "Barry Greenhouse "The Inside Man"" "South Tower 4.27 pm" "This beam was over the elevator shaft that had a drop of 400 meters." "North Tower 6.22pm" "South Tower 7.44pm" "Jim Moore" "A minute ago you said the whole place was swarming with cops." "This is what they'll make you do when you're prison." "They'll make you clean the windows in all the tall towers." "South Tower 8. 10pm" "His foot was up my nose and my foot was stuck between his arms, we were completely entwined." "I guess you could say we really got to know each other." "I've rarely known a man that way before!" "North Tower 9.38pm" "Mark "The Australian"" "He wanted to set up a wire to correspond exactly to the distance between the two towers." "And to practice on it a much as he could." "Someone had spoken to him about the elasticity of the building and the fact that the wind could cause the towers to sway." "So there was a moment of great concern." "There was always and still is, this 'bad boy' side to Philippe's character." "He had a very strict upbringing." "And he would never have strayed too far down that illegal road." "But he got great pleasure from taking certain 'liberties'." "He's so excessive, so creative, so each day is like a work of art for him." "What excited him most about this adventure aside from being a beautiful show was that it was like a bank robbery." "And that pleased him enormously." "Gradually things began to get more serious because a proper plan had to be worked out." "And then the arguments between Jean-Louis and Philippe really got started." "Ok, so we get through the main gate, however we decide to do it." "The trick is going to be on the top floor, coming out of the elevator." "It is better to be dressed as office workers." " No!" "As workers..." " Wait!" "Let me finish!" "It was almost impossible to imagine them getting into the tower undetected." "They didn't even know how they were going to get in." "And I think right from the start," "Jean-Louis felt an enormous responsibility." "And he wouldn't let Philippe have it his way, perhaps because he felt that Philippe wasn't being realistic." "No!" "We're being complete idiots." "Jean-Louis knew I sided with him and Philippe also knew I was taking Jean-Louis' side." "May 13th 197 4" "Guy Tozzoli President WTC Association" "May 28th 197 4" "The first attempt had failed." "He called me and asked me to come over immediately." "Of course my role was to support and encourage him." "It was always a matter of trying to understand what was going on in his head and of encouraging him." "That was my job and it was really exhausting." "He would spend the night watching television." "He only ever watched detective movies, bank robberies, stories about cops and robbers." "I'm convinced he was getting in shape with this." "He was looking for the strength, so he could break into these towers." "So he went back, again and again, to the World Trade Center, to the main entrance hall." "And Philippe observed very carefully how people went in, showing their passes, etc." "David aka "Donald" Rock Singer" "Alan aka "Albert" Quality Guy" "I was really very worried." "The team included people who were totally unreliable." "Jean-Louis reminded me about Notre Dame, said it would be the same kind of thing, the same adventure, but this time in New York at the World Trade Center." "He didn't tell me much more, just asked whether I wanted to come or not." "When we arrived in New York on the Boston train, at one point we went past the Empire State Building." "At that moment I looked up," "I saw the height of the Empire State Building and I was horrified." "My legs started to shake, it was terrifying!" "Especially when I realised the World Trade Center was even higher." "I kept it all to myself, but I was terrified." "When Jean-Louis came back, the tension rose enormously." "It became unbearable." "The problem was the team." "The very night before the coup, they arrived at the apartment in a deplorable state." "One of them was stoned." "He was completely gone, lost in a haze of smoke." "Jean-Louis was absolutely dismayed." "So was Philippe." "1 1.08pm, August 6th" "There was someone there that we hadn't expected, sitting at a desk with a little light." "I remember the vastness of New York!" "The altitude!" "The Statue of Liberty, the UN building, all looking so tiny." "It was magnificent." "And the sounds as well, the police sirens all night long." "It was all so alive!" "And we were kings!" "4.48am, August 7th" "The streets were deserted." "I found a taxi willing to take me there." "So I waited with the others." "Other members of the team joined us." "And our eyes were absolutely glued to the towers." "I was looking out for the slightest movement, but we couldn't see a thing." "It was absolutely terrifying." "Suddenly we saw something, a shape, just for a second, falling down." "There was a huge cry of relief... it was only a piece of clothing." "We all thought: " He must have just dropped something, that's ok."" "We all thought: "Of course it's possible he could fall."" "We all thought it, but we didn't believe it." "We thought it, but we didn't believe it." "I saw Philippe." "I saw Philippe up there, it was extraordinary." "It was so, so beautiful." "It was like he was walking on a cloud." "And there were such amazing moments." "When he lay down we were thrilled by this image of Philippe lying down up above." "And another very powerful moment was when he..." "It was so beautiful." "When he knelt down." "There was a moment when he knelt down and saluted." "I cried out: " Look!" "Look!"" "People started gathering, but they couldn't see." "They asked me:" ""What is it?" "What do you see?"" "I said: " Look, a wirewalker!" "He's walking!"" "Philippe did provoke them, naturally, because that's what he does, that's his character!" "He would come close to the guards or the police, who were trying to grab him, then he would turn around and be out of their reach, because they weren't about to get on the wire!" "The place was a sort of scientific area where lunatics walk round in circles." "So here we were, surrounded by mad people." "But we weren't mad, we were stars!" "I saw Philippe discover what it meant to be famous, to be recognized, with expressions of friendliness and enthusiasm." "People would cross the street to tell him: "You gave us such a gift!"" "" It was so beautiful!" "It was a breath of fresh air..." "thank you!"" "It was extraordinary and I think in Philippe's mind, many things were changing." "So the judge's sentence was pretty harsh, I thought." "I was expelled from the United States." "There was a love story." "But it was clear that Philippe had gone through an incredible moment in his life and he was starting something else, a new life." "Strangely, I felt the same way." "Our relationship was meant to end here and it was beautiful that way."