Construction Crane Above Paris

I was still meeting new friends (and still climbing things) even on my 2nd to last day in Paris. That night I was introduced to Cigale via a mutual Couchsurfing friend. Cigale was an Australian photographer who had been living in Paris for two years. He was quite the character; he sported a classy Salvador Dalí mustache, was an amazing storyteller, and had constructed a room in the west catacomb networks of the GRS. In fact "Cigale," his pseudonym, was an homage to his mustache. I asked Cigale if he wanted to join Averell, Jean-Christophe and I that night as we returned to a small and obscure network in which Averell and Jean-Christophe were constructing a room. I guess I could be considered the temporary "artist-in-residence" there ;-)

After a few hours of painting and storytelling underground, we exited the catacombs at 2am. Cigale and I biked north because he lived near the Bastille and I lived near the Champs-Élysées. As we crossed the Seine, we saw a towering construction crane along bank and decided to give it a climb. Neither of us had ever climbed a crane, but the excitement was mutual.