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| The Beacon of Paris |
Named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, the iron lattice tower was initially intended as the arch entrance to the 1889 Exposition Universelle which was to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the French Revolution. The structure is 1,063 ft tall (or 324 meters) which includes the antennas and 3 levels for visitors. When it was completed, the tower was deemed as an eyesore for many and Eiffel had the permit to let it stand for 20 years. The city had planned to dismantle the tower but let it stand after discovering that the structure proved to have a potential for valuable communication. The tower has been a symbol of Paris and France and welcomes about 7 millions visitors per year.
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| Underneath the structure |
We visited the tower during the day. Luckily for us it was a bright and crisp morning in Paris. There were so many angles from which we could capture this grand structure. From afar, it did look like any Eiffel Tower images or pictures that are readily available worldwide. But being there yourself is another experience as you walk closer to the tower. The structure is massive. It was built with about 7,300 tons of iron framework with a total weight of 10,000 tons. There are 18,000 parts connected by 2.5 millions of rivets. We wandered around underneath this huge tower in awe. I thought it was quite an extraordinary achievement and an engineering marvel to be able to build this tower during that time. And I thought, why built something this important only to stand for 20 years? I cannot imagine the efforts to dismantle the tower after the excitement of building something this groundbreaking. I wonder how Parisians thought at that time; they probably never thought that the structure they once considered an eyesore had later become a symbol of Paris and France.
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| Night view from the second level |
The structure is illuminated in the evening in an elaborate light show for 5 minutes until 1 am every hour on the hour. It looked like the structure was alive!. We watched it from the top of Arc de Triomphe. We deliberately waited until the evening to take the elevator, hopefully to the top level. Apparently the third level was closed because it was quite late, and my traveling companion thanked the Lord since he was afraid of height and second level was the highest he could go. I was once told that the view from the third level was not as spectacular in comparison to second level unless it’s a bright day for perfect visibility. So second level it is. And the view was indeed spectacular. Maybe we will return to Paris someday and take the elevator to the top level, but this view from the second level was worth the wait the long lines. I bet others feel the same way. Many of them come from abroad, and 75 % of visitors are foreigners. As I stood behind the railing and marveled the view, I could see the panoramic night view of Paris and later pondered why this structure had become a symbol of a national pride. Not being a Parisian or French, I don’t know the real answer, but whatever it is, I am sure the answer fits the question.
© 2011 Joshua Tann Photography
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