LA TOUR EIFFEL

La Tour Eiffel, better known as the Eiffel Tower.

One can't walk two steps in Paris without being bombarded by the images of this most famous tower. Its engineer, Gustave Eiffel originally planned the tower for the Universal Exposition in Barcelona in 1888. But, after being told that the tower did not fit with the design of the city, Eiffel took his plans to Universal Exhibition in Paris where he built his tower a year later. The tower was initially met with much controversy and was called an 'eyesore' by many Parisians, but Eiffel responded to criticism by saying that "the curvature of the monument is mathematically dictated and will give the impression of strength and beauty." The tower soon became a symbol of the avant-garde movement and is now widely considered to be one of the most amazing pieces of architectural art in the world.

So, you may be wondering what exactly it takes to make one of the most widely recognized symbols in the world. Well, you have come to the right place. I happen to know that:

• The tower took only two years to build! (1887- March 31, 1889)
• 300 iron workers put 15,000 pieces of iron together with 2.5 million rivets.
• Amazingly, only one person died during the building of the tower and this was only due to the fact that he was showing off for his girlfriend below!
  
• The tower is a total of 320.755 meters (including the antenna) and 8.56 million kilos!
• At most, the top of the tower sways 12cm in high winds.
  
• There are 1665 steps to the top.
• Today, the tower is painted every 7 years with 50 tons of paint in three tones of brown with the darkest beginning on the bottom. It takes 25 painters 15 months to paint it with brushes!
• The four sides of the tower include the engravings of 72 famous turn-of-the-century French scientists and engineers.
• There are actually 4 light beacons at the top that alternatively rotate around and can be seen from 80km away.
  
• During it's lifetime the tower has been scaled by a mountaineer, parachuted off of, almost sold for scrap metal, and during the war the tower was responsible for intercepting a radio message that led to the capture of the infamous German spy and exotic dancer Mata Hari.

It just so happens that I got a chance to visit the tower on Saturday night, and it was absolutely stunning! Although it was a wee bit chilly on the top, the view of Paris from there was breath-taking. I've been talking about how gorgeous this city is at night and from up there, I'm not sure if it could get any better. Take a look for yourselves!

Glamour shot from the Trocadero across the Seine!

The tower is blue because France currently hold the presidency in the European Union

The blue with yellow stars reflects the EU flag. The tower is usually a golden/orange colour but has been blue as well as red before for the Chinese New Year.
View from the top along the river

We had a chance to see the sparkles up close! The tower twinkles for 10 minutes at the start of every hour from night fall until 2 am!


Check out this link to see the full video from the top!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3NkdVeZWQw