Hotel week-end paris tour eiffel
The
Eiffel Tower was built in the period 1887-1889, to celebrate 100th
anniversary of the French Revolution. Paris is recognized by this
tower. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England,
opened the tower....
The Eiffel Tower was built in the period 1887-1889, to celebrate
100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Paris is recognized
by this tower. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England,
opened the tower. Based on the advertisement in newspaper, 700
design proposals were submitted and the design of Gustave Eiffel's
was unanimously chosen. The tower was then named after him. It
was the world's tallest building until 1930 with 300 metres (320.75metres
including antenna) in height. It weighed about 7000 tons. It reflects
the toil of 300 steel workers. It has 1652 steps. The antenna
on top of it was used for telegraphy at that time.
In 1889, Eiffel Tower was used as a laboratory for scientific
measuring and experimenting. It would have been torn down after
twenty years of existence but was preserved due to the scientific
activities that were carried out on the tower. During its lifetime,
the Eiffel Tower witnessed a few strange scenes. It was climbed
by a mountaineer in 1954, and parachuted off of in 1984 by two
Englishmen. In 1923, a journalist rode a bicycle down from the
first level. Some accounts say he rode down the stairs, other
accounts, suggest the exterior of one of the tower's four legs
which slope outward. The tower has three platforms. A restaurant
on the first platform, the Jules Verne is on the second platform.
The top platform has a bar, souvenir shop, and the (recently restored)
office of Gustave Eiffel. The view from the top platform is superb.
Just one hour before the sunset, the view is very good.
On its hundredth birthday (1989), a huge painting reflecting its
first century of life was created. Its one hundred years of historic
and scientific events, famous visitors, and incredible stories
about Eiffel Tower were made public on this auspicious day. The
tower was made of 15,000 iron pieces excluding the rivets. To
protect it from oxidation, it was painted with 40 tons of paint.
It was repainted seventeen times since it was built, an average
of once every seven years. It has changed color several times,
passing from red-brown to yellow-ochre, then to chestnut brown
and finally today, its color is bronze, slightly shaded off towards
the top to ensure that the color is perceived to be the same all
the way up as it stands against the Paris sky.
All the elements which were required for the construction of this
tower were made in a factory at Levallois-Perret on the outskirts
of Paris, where Eiffel's company was located. Each of these elements
were prepared with an accuracy of about tenth of a millimetre
and then put together, in pieces of around five metres each. A
team of four men were required to fix a rivet. One to heat it
up, another to hold it in place, third to shape the head and the
fourth to beat it with a sledge hammer. Each corner edge of the
tower rests on its own supporting block by applying a pressure
of 3 to 4 kilograms per square centimeter. The tower was assembled
using wooden scaffolding and small steam cranes.
The
lightning system on the Eiffel tower consists of 352 sodium yellow
- orange tint lamps which are placed on inside of the tower structure,
reflects its beauty. The lamps are cooled to prevent overheating
and a heating system is activated automatically when the temperature
drops below zero degrees centigrade. Recently, it has been decorated
with two light beams. They are visible from a distance of eighty
kilometers. They are activated each evening when the tower lights
up. The beacon is composed of four marine type motorized projectors
which are operated by automatically piloted computer programs.
This beacon resonates the image of Gustave Eiffel's Tower as a
universal and symbolic landmark.
With almost 6 million people a year today, the Eiffel Tower is
a real crowd pleaser. At the crossroads of the entire world, more
than 200 million visitors have come since its construction. It's
not surprising when you consider the Eiffel Tower is the monument
that best symbolizes Europe. It's also the one, tourists prefer.
During our visit to Paris in March 1989, we found the Eiffel
Tower had been refurbished, and they had installed an electric
sign saying ' 100 Anns ' for its 100th birthday. Since it was
originally built for the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution,
it was ready for France's 200th celebration, that took place
on Bastille Day, July 14, 1989.
Just remember, if they hadn¹t needed a high spot for radio
antenna in the early 1900s, they were planning to tear down
the Tower. Can you imagine anyone suggesting its removal today?
One famous man said the reason he ate lunch at the restaurant
in the Tower, was because he couldn¹t see the Eiffel Tower
from his table. If he expressed those sentiments today, he would
be infamous, not famous!
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