Eiffel's Tower
Though we are back from Paris, I haven't yet finished sharing the most magical moments of that trip. The initial reason I started blogging was to save moments my family and I shared. It came from a place of longing, wishing I had captured the incredible moments with my family growing up. So that my children would not suffer the same fate, I started blogging. They will now have this snapshot of our lives together and the special times we shared.
"The Eiffel Tower? Really Mom, I don't want to do touristy things. Can't we go see Napolean's Tomb and the Military Museum?"
"Well they're in the same neighborhood and you know dear boy that for one who loves to construct things the Eiffel Tower is a marvel? Let's compromise? We can do both"
And with a bit of prodding, a metro ride, and a walk, we arrived at what became known as "The Tourist Attraction".
As we came out of the metro there was silence and heads craning upwards to have a view at one of the most famous sites in the world.
"I didn't know it was so large. How big is this thing? How did they build it? Can we go to the top? How many visitors does it get a year? What to the Parisian's think about it? Was Eiffel a person? ...... and on and on went the questions. So now he was interested. (mother smiles :)
As big sister actived her smart phone to get some answers for the inquiring mind, his attention diverted to the fact that all he really wanted to do was go underneath the tower to look up inside the giant structure.
I was happy with the close up view but I knew this would not work for my husband Fiber Boy. Tradition has it that he likes the long range view which throughout family vacations has had us hiking miles at times to be able to turn around and say "Wow ! Look at that". And there it was.....the suggestion...."Let's cross the Seine and walk up to Troccadero so we can get a good view.".
While we make our way to the "good view" let's share some of our discovered Eiffel Tower facts.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, is nicknamed 'The Iron Lady', and is considered to be the most-visited monument in the world.
The Eiffel Tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World Fair - Exposition Universelle, which marked the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. It was said to be the 'symbol of our achievements in the field of science and engineering'. Out of a number of designs submitted as part of a competition, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel won, and was responsible for the construction of the Eiffel Tower. It was a temporary structure with a permit of 20 years, after which it was to be demolished - and that nearly happened in 1909. Had it not been for its use as a telecommunication tower, the Eiffel Tower would have had been long gone!
Construction of the Eiffel Tower began on January 26, 1887, and was eventually completed on March 31, 1889. It took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days, for the 300 workers involved, to complete the Eiffel Tower.
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (the person who had created the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty in 1885) was the main architect.
The Eiffel Tower stands 1063 feet tall, inclusive of the 24 m antenna, and weighs 7,300 tons. With that height, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world when it was built - and continued to be so until 1930.
The Eiffel Tower was built using 9441 tons of wrought iron (puddle iron) of the highest quality. A total of 18038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create it. The base of the Eiffel Tower covers a square area of 100 m.
The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years, in 3 shades of brown with darkest shade at the bottom. Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint it. Even today the Eiffel Tower is painted using mere brushes.
The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps to the third level small platform at the top, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level, all counted from the ground.
The names of 72 prominent French scientists and famous personalities are affixed on the sides of Eiffel Tower just beneath the first platform, 18 names per side.
The Eiffel Tower belongs to the city of Paris, and is given a renewable contract to a limited company named Societe d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel.
In clear weather, you can see approximately 42 miles from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways up to 15 cm at its summit.Due to the height of this structure and gusty winds, the chances of accident during the construction of Eiffel Tower were high, but precautionary measures ensured that there were no accident-related deaths during the construction.
The temporary relocation of the Eiffel Tower to Montreal, wherein it was to be used as a landmark and tourist attraction during 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, was attempted in the 1960s. However, the company which was in charge of operations ruled this move out of fear that the French administration may deny them permission to restore it to its original place.
You can use the steps or elevator to reach the top, but these stairs are only available to the second platform, and the third platform is accessible only via elevators.
Victor Lustig, a con artist notorious for his scams all over the world, posed as the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, and sold the Eiffel Tower to scrap dealer - Andre Poisson, citing that the city could not afford the maintenance of this structure anymore. Lustig is widely known as 'The man who sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice.'
The Eiffel Tower has restaurants on the first and second platforms. The restaurant on the first platform is 'Altitude 95' and faces the river Seine. The restaurant on the second platform is named 'Jules Verne' (prior booking is a must in this restaurant).
Over 200 million people have visited the Eiffel Tower Since its inception, with the 200,000,000th visitor arriving on November 28, 2002.
Now let's turn around for our long view shall we?
