Paris Day Three: Eiffel Tower

The evening was lovely and weather forecasts were calling for rain, so we decided to hit Paris at night to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. The Champ Elysees looked pretty nice at night, too.

There are so many people out after dark that it hardly seems any different than during the day. But since most streets aren't well lit, it is rather dark.

A nice Indian family asked to take their picture for them and took one of us in return...

We found Lady Liberty's torch. Later we found out it was at the place where Princess Di was killed in Paris in 1997.

The Eiffel Tower's lights sparkle for 5 minutes every hour on the hour. It looks beautiful against the night sky!

Now all we had to do was get across the bridge to the other side...

The tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair in only 2 years, 2 months and 5 days using 750 tons of iron and 2.5 million rivets. Many Parisians considered it unsound and an eyesore, and it was supposed to be torn down after 20 years. But it proved to be so useful as a radiotelegraph station that it remained. It was used in WWI and Hitler ordered it to be destroyed during WWII but the order was never carried out.

Some things you may not know about the Eiffel Tower:
~ There is an apartment that Gustave Eiffel top at the top, where he entertained guests like Thomas Edison.
~The tower moves in strong winds or by the heat of the sun.
~72 French scientists and engineers have their names engraved in the tower.
~Every 7 years the tower is recoated with about 50 tons of paint.

Like seemingly everything else in Paris, the area around the tower was under construction. But that didn't keep people away. It was swarming with both tourists and men peddling souvenirs and wine or champagne to drink in the park near the base.

It shouldn't have been surprising since there are 7 million visitors there every year, more than any paid monument in the world!

As you can see, we walked all the way around and got pictures from every angle. It's pretty darn photogenic for an eyesore. ;)

Then we had to wander all the way back across the Pont de l'Archeveche to see the famous locks...

We also realized we were starving! But we stopped to look back and take a few more pics before having Italian food near the hotel...