what happened today in 1889?
It feels like a while since we have been on the blog… (a week to be exact) and it’s thanks to wifi at home being unavailable 😦 But we are up and running again! YAY!
To celebrate and mark the significance of TODAY: March 31 – we will be honouring the Eiffel Tower which officially opened 126 years ago (back in 1889).
And here are 5 random facts to go with our photos of the Eiffel Tower.
Did you know…
- It took 2 years to build the Eiffel Tower?
- The Eiffel Tower acted as a radio antennae in the early 1900s?
- It was originally described as a “monstrous eyesore”?
- The Eiffel Tower is covered in 60 tons of paint, which needs to be touched up every 7 years?
- It attracts almost 7 million visitors a year?
A beautiful Parisian icon or an eyesore?
Have you been and what did you think?
Leave us a comment.
wise monkeys abroad 
April 3, 2015 at 3:27 pm
Amazing – all it takes is a picture of the Eiffel Tower to make me want to take a trip to Paris.
April 4, 2015 at 7:31 am
🙂 Lots of people don’t like Paris but we loved it more the second time around! We can’t get bored of the Eiffel Tower.
April 5, 2015 at 8:00 am
I’m personally fond of the wine and desserts…
April 6, 2015 at 9:10 pm
😉 Good taste!
April 2, 2015 at 9:21 am
I LOVE Paris. I LOVE the Eiffel Tower. Your photos are great – especially the 4th one … it’s different. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Paris or its iconic tower 🙂
April 4, 2015 at 7:28 am
Thank you… We love Paris too and fell in love with it all over again when we were there back in August last year 🙂
April 1, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Wonderful photos, thank you! I spent my 50th birthday in Paris with my friend Amanda Jane (we’ve known each other since we were 5!). We were first up the Eiffel Tower on that day so had a brief time with plenty of room to move. While we were looking our over the city another old friend phoned from Australia to say happy birthday and ‘where are you?” – a surreal and memorable experience. 🙂
April 2, 2015 at 8:05 am
Wow – that is a fantastic way to spend a milestone birthday 🙂 One you certainly will NOT be forgetting!
Thanks so much for sharing your memorable experience with us. Gives us ideas for our next major birthday 🙂
April 1, 2015 at 8:58 am
Oh I had no idea it was the anniversary of the Eiffel Tower! It’s funny, close up I’m not actually sure I like it much but from a distance in views, it looks just lovely ☺
April 2, 2015 at 8:04 am
We are not sure if we are fans of it up close or far away but we have to admit then when we see it in perspective against the rest of the city – it truly is quite surreal 🙂
Hope you are well and enjoying whatever trip you are planning next 🙂
April 1, 2015 at 1:06 am
Awww…love the Eiffel Tower and never get tired of it. Have climbed it many times….love this post.
April 2, 2015 at 8:02 am
Well Diana – you are one lucky lady to have climbed it so many times 🙂 The lines have deterred us each time.
One day we will get there 🙂
Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead planned!
March 31, 2015 at 9:30 pm
I was at the tower but I decided against going up there due to the horrible amount of people and the price for the ticket…
The 31st of March is also my mothers birthday 🙂
April 2, 2015 at 7:56 am
Happy Birthday to your mother for 31st March 🙂
And the line was just too long for us to waste a precious day in Paris waiting.
Maybe one day when the line is short… 😉
March 31, 2015 at 7:54 pm
I have been to France, but never to the Eiffel Tower. It’s on the bucket list.
I know in my hometown there have been several pieces of art out in the public areas that at first have been considered an eyesore and then loved later on. I think it’s just getting used to something new that sometimes irks people. Regardless, I can imagine that some would dislike a huge metal tower in their midst at first. 🙂
April 2, 2015 at 8:02 am
Very good point – a huge metal tower that does not architecturally fit with the rest of the city would be a little unsightly to start of with 😉
France is such a spectacular country – so much to see… We can see why you haven’t been to the Eiffel Tower yet.
March 31, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Beautiful, even though we sometimes joke and call it the awful tower. In terms of achievement, it rates somewhere near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Useless trivium (note the singular of trivia :)) – did you know the SHB still holds the record for the largest number of bolts and rivets ever ordered/needed?
April 2, 2015 at 8:00 am
Well Ken – we did not know about the SHB… but now we do, so thank you for sharing 🙂
And yes, it is very much in the same league as the Eiffel Tower.. iconic to the city and definitely one of the first images that are conjured up when the city is named 🙂
Hope you have a great long weekend ahead!
March 31, 2015 at 7:31 pm
It took us three goes to get to the top of the tower. The first time we were ten people from the ticket office and the whole place was closed because someone had left their bag and they brought in the robot bag exploder to deal with it. The second time we were ten people from the front and the top floor was closed because it was too windy. Third time lucky, but like your experience there was a long queue. We figured it was a case of now or never so we sucked it up, stood in the queue and then climbed the stairs all the way. It was worth all that effort. The view and the thrill of being there were fantastic.
Your photos are lovely, especially the third and fourth photos.
April 2, 2015 at 7:59 am
Well, there you go! It is true what they say about third time lucky 😉
One day we will go up it… we just haven’t had the luck yet. And we have been there twice now…. So maybe our third time in Paris, we will be up the top taking a photo 🙂
What are your plans for the Easter break?
April 3, 2015 at 8:45 am
Happy Easter.
We are having a quiet long weekend, only going to the Lions/Collingwood match at the Gabba on Saturday. How about you?
April 4, 2015 at 7:30 am
We are off to see Les Miserables tonight and so will miss the end of the Swans/Essendon game 😦 Would’ve been a good game to see live!
Enjoy your game and the weekend!
March 31, 2015 at 6:31 pm
I climbed to the 2nd stage. It was the ultimate stair master. In the old days when they painted it, they used no scaffolding or safety lines.
April 2, 2015 at 7:58 am
Thanks for the bit of trivia about the painting 🙂 No scaffolding or safety lines… yikes!
Well done on climbing to the second stage! We are yet to go up the Eiffel Tower – maybe next time we are in Paris.
March 31, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Cool…After seeing your post, I feel like want to post some photos of Eiffel..
April 2, 2015 at 7:56 am
Glad to have inspired you 🙂
March 31, 2015 at 3:16 pm
Hard to imagine people once considered it an eyesore. I wandered around it but didn’t go up inside. Did you guys? –Curt
March 31, 2015 at 3:37 pm
We did try on this last trip but the line was horrendously long so we skipped it! We did lots of wandering around too 😉