'French Spiderman' tells Macron to 'come back down to earth'

STORY: Alain Robert, 60, climbs without a harness, using only his bare hands and a pair of climbing shoes.

"I'm here to show my support for all those who oppose the pension reform," he told Reuters before starting his ascent of the 492 foot skyscraper in Paris' La Defense business district.

"I'm here to tell President Emmanuel Macron to come back down to earth - by climbing to the top with no safety net."

Robert said the pension reform, which Macron signed into law after months of street protests meant that, combined with a loss of income due to the COVID pandemic, he would have to keep on working, and climbing, for longer. He has an eight-year-old son to support, he said.

Under the reform, the French retirement age will gradually rise to 64 from 62.