Frenchy Friday Quinze: Touring le Tour Eiffel

(source: World City Photos)

Bonne Anniversaire le Tour Eiffel! (hier)

(Happy Birthday Eiffel Tower! - yesterday)

The Eiffel Tower turned 121 yesterday, May 6th. It was built in 1889, and was only supposed to stand for 20 years. However, from the popularity, and radio signal technology, the tower stayed. It has now become one of the most recognizable french icons ever.

I love the Eiffel Tower. I'm glad they kept it!

I visited the Tour Eiffel on my trip to Paris in 2005. It was the beginning of June, and it was kind of windy. Those elevators scared the living {beep!} out of me!

Looking down from the Elevator..

They're so rickety.. and creepy.. and then you go half way to the top and the tower sways a little as you step out onto the platform and look down on the city of Paris. I loved it.. and as soon as that eep! feeling leaves your stomach, you look up and think, "now I have to get to the top" your feeling of nausea, anxiety, and excitement returns instantly.

The view from the top is even better.

Some random history of the tower..

Tower Happenings

During its period of existence, the Eiffel Tower has witnessed a number of strange scenes, including being scaled by a mountaineer in 1954 and two Englishmen parachuting off it in 1984. The arrest of the infamous World War I German Spy, the Danish dancer Mata Hari, was due to the interception of one of her radio messages by the tower's radiotelegraphic center.

In 1923, the journalist Pierre Labric [who was later to become mayor of Montmartre] rode a bicycle down from the first level. Some accounts say he rode down the stairs while others suggest that he rode on the exterior of one of the tower's four legs which slope outward.

In 1925, a con artist by the name of Victor Lustig, managed to sell the tower for scrap.

Politics have also played a role in its life. During World War II, the Germans hung a sign on it that read: "Deutschland Siegt Auf Allen Fronten" ["Germany is victorious on all fronts"]. In 1958, a few months before Fidel Castro's rise to power, Cuban revolutionaries hung their red-and-black flag from the first level and, in 1979, an American from Greenpeace hung a sign reading: "Save the Seals". In 1989, the Tower celebrated its centennial with music and fireworks [the show lasted 89 minutes].

(source: ClaudonLake)

Je l'aime, vous l'aimez?

(I love it, do you love it?)

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