In Paris, Sophie, ever drawn to heights, pops through a skylight and meets Matteo, a rooftop dwelling orphan who helps her look for the source of mysterious cello music that floatsover the city.
She would not let herself imagine anything untoward, she would not visualize the gondola rising upward until it burst into flames or hurtling down until it smashed into pieces on the ground or floating away over the rooftops like Gambetta in 1871.