Dubbed the "French Spiderman", Alain Robert scaled a skyscraper without a harness in Paris on Monday to raise funds for the renovation of Notre-Dame cathedral.

The 56-year-old was seen using horizontal struts running up the Engie headquarters' curved facade to climb the 185-metre, glass-fronted building in La Defense business district.

Robert halted regularly to chalk his hands.

Before the climb, he said he wanted to give a helping hand to the renovation effort of the cathedral and hoped others would do too.

His sponsors wrote a cheque of €5,000 to help finance the renovations, Robert said.