One thing about the Effiel Tower was when I first saw it in it's entirety today from the far end of the Champ de Mars gardens, I was like -- Jean you really are here in Paris! hahaha...I know, it sounds so ridiculous since it's already our 3rd day there...hee...it's me lah..the kid in me spoke.
I guess it's the same feeling I had when I climbed the Great Wall of China. You spend your years seeing it in movies, photos and TV ...and then to be finally face to face with a world recognised icon!
I'm so obedient..hahaha...ge said: " There's one picture you just gotta take now with the Eiffel tower..." then she just waved me in front of her onto the grass patch. Hmmm...what could it be? ....."Okie, now you have to jump high up k? then take the picture with you in the air"....Muh!?!?!LOL...I'm pretty much game to do whacky stuff for photos, I went "Muh?!?!"...coz I seldom have a photographer so willing to bear with it...hee...better still participate in it...coz it can just get pretty embarassing mah...hee
The Eiffel Tower looks more brownish than metal grey. So those souvenirs you see of it that is silver/ grey, really isn't close! It's really amazing when you walk towards it...I felt dwarfed and excited at the same time...
"Yipppeee....I'm going on the Eifel Tower...neyeh-ee yeah ee-yeah"...singing and jiving...=P
When it first came up, one unkind Parisian paper called it the 'Metal Asparagus'..hahaha...I don't think I'll ever forget that reference. =PSo at the base of the tower, it was time to make a decision how high we wanted to go and how. You see, the tower has 3 levels. The first 2 levels is accessible by stairs (horrors!) and by elevator. The 3rd level which is effectively the top can only be reached by elevator.
By elevator, it's 12euros for the top, and 8euros for up to level 2 only. (4 euros by stairs..hee..)
I decided to treat myself and go to the top!..hee..aiyah..if i was a poor student, I'd probably not even consider it...but...if not now then when hor?
So after a long but decent moving queue, we bought tickets (painfully having to declare we were adults when asked if we wer students again...haiz...the student rates are just good lahz..but I wore my halo at that moment k! *puffs chest*)
The elevator could hold a large number of people, about 25 to 30 and we were packed like sardines in there...I moved ge closer to the windows when we could, so that she could take pics! She managed to catch nice ones...=)
There's a ominous metallic clanging sound at intervals as the elevator moves up...its as though we were meeting our doom...hehehe...The ticket to the top gives you access to the 2nd level too. So we hung around to enjoy the views.
You really can see all of Paris from the tower. You see below...that's Invalides lor! Yeah! we walked all the way from there!
At this point, ge turns around and with the sincerest look on her face, was about to ask me a question.She stopped herself midway coz she realised the answer...hahaha...it was so funny after I asked further and she told me what it was..hehee...=D
And coz I love her, I shan't embarass her here...but it's really so farnee I still laugh each time I think about it, coz it's a classic ge...=)
I realised that the building colours all quite monotone eh...I guess it's deliberate to maintain the 'quaint-ness' (if there is such a word!) of the city.That level has two tiers...which we had to climb to to get to our second lift that will bring us all the way to the top!
OK...more ominous clanging...and worse, intervals where it was dark!!! Coz we were going up the thin portion of the tower, and the beams were alot closer.... the buildings below got smaller ....and smaller....eeps...
So here we are at the top!Disappointingly, the view not that much different neh. We wanted to hang around to catch the sunset and see Paris light up...it's really the best time to be on the tower, and Thank God once again it was the off peak season, we could hang around as long as we want, even though it was quite crowded.... I can only imagine how congested it would be during the summer!
(La Seine river!)The top level has an indoor and outdoor area, which included one room built by the man behind the tower who entertained guests such as Thomas Edison, and it was spookily illustrated with wax figures! Hahaha....
So how did the tower come about?
For a special purpose, the Journal Officiel launched a major competition to “study the possibility of erecting an iron tower on the Champ-de-Mars. The project proposal by entrepreneur Gustave Eiffel (1832 - 1923), who was an exceptionally gifted engineer and buidler, was chosen out of a total of 107!!!! It would be the grand entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.
The monument was inaugurated on March 31, 1889.
Well the top is a small place...with only 10 seats?...So it took patience and endurance on our aching feet. The outside was really cold...so i left ge indoors at one point and tormented myself (the shiok sort) by braving the winds outside and marvelling at the views, and remembering God's presence as i gave thanks that I could have this opportunity in my lifetime to be a part of this...=)There are alot of interesting facts about the Eiffel tower, which I've read with interest..haha...=) Do you know...
Number of analogical TV stations: 6
Number of free digital TV stations: 30
Number of radio stations: 31
Number of antennas: 120!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pic below shows to tip of the tower from where we were! =) ...was it possible we were looking at 120 antennas!!?!?!
So it took....50 engineers and designers produced 5,300 drawings, and over 100 workers built more than 18,000 different parts of the tower in a workshop. Another 132 workers assembed them on site,a nd given the technology/ safety procedures of the time + working with all that metal, only one workman died.Indoors, you can see the scenery too! They included flags of certain countries just to make visitors feel proud...hee...
And we were there! yup! We are officially 10,745 km East (Est) from home! I felt so far away...
And we were there! yup! We are officially 10,745 km East (Est) from home! I felt so far away...
Number of rivets used: 2,500,000........duh, that is alot of rivets.
Weight of paint used: 60 tons.
Time required for painting: repainted in its entirety every seven years. *gasp*
(Arc de Triomphe!)
The Tower sways slightly in the wind. Approximately 13 cm from its initial position. But the Tower is also affected by heat. At high temps, that portion of the structure exposed to the sun expands more than the portion in the shade. To “get out of the sun”, the Tower can lean as much as 18 cm.
(The Place de la Concorde! OK, you can't see the obelisk...but you remember the ferris wheel?)
It was meant to be left standing for only 20 years and to be dismantled! Imagine that! =S After all the hard work! Thank God science prevailed and many other uses were found for the tower for experiments, which began it's frist few reasons for extending it's lifespan...
You see, like the Lourve Pyramid the Eiffel tower, during construction, suffered much criticism from Parisian, personalities and art community who felt it was an eyesore and destroyed the architectural beauty of thier homeland. A number of persons did later change their views and make amends...I guess such things take time to grow on you. Besides, it is still art...in a modern architectural sense...=)
You can see the lights starting to come on and the snaking roads lit by cars....nice hor...we headed down back to the second level for more photos...
The scenery above was the best among all...like somethiing out of a postcard...
Time required for painting: repainted in its entirety every seven years. *gasp*
(Arc de Triomphe!)The Tower sways slightly in the wind. Approximately 13 cm from its initial position. But the Tower is also affected by heat. At high temps, that portion of the structure exposed to the sun expands more than the portion in the shade. To “get out of the sun”, the Tower can lean as much as 18 cm.
(The Place de la Concorde! OK, you can't see the obelisk...but you remember the ferris wheel?)It was meant to be left standing for only 20 years and to be dismantled! Imagine that! =S After all the hard work! Thank God science prevailed and many other uses were found for the tower for experiments, which began it's frist few reasons for extending it's lifespan...
You see, like the Lourve Pyramid the Eiffel tower, during construction, suffered much criticism from Parisian, personalities and art community who felt it was an eyesore and destroyed the architectural beauty of thier homeland. A number of persons did later change their views and make amends...I guess such things take time to grow on you. Besides, it is still art...in a modern architectural sense...=)
You can see the lights starting to come on and the snaking roads lit by cars....nice hor...we headed down back to the second level for more photos... 
The scenery above was the best among all...like somethiing out of a postcard...I recall we were freezing but trying to take photos to capture the moment...haha...but it's really hard coz your hand can't shake...
And how can we miss taking a shot together in such a God painted background eh? so we tried....hahaha....we really tried....and after many shaky shots, this was the best we managed to get!...LOL....you can see our smiles were all plastic from the chilly winds and retakes..=P
We did try asking someone to take for us lah....but...she just didn't capture what we wanted..=) still, the purple sky is so so nice!! hahaha...
Such sunsets always remind me that I must see the Northern Lights in my lifetime...I rarely, if ever make lifetime promises to myself...so this is one of the few... (eversince I was just in Secondary school and saw photos of it...). I wouldn't mind seeing it everyday 'live' actually...hahaha...
Okies...finally, we were willing to leave the tower! After about over and hour on it!
Little did I know I'd simply fall more in love with it very soon....hee....
And how can we miss taking a shot together in such a God painted background eh? so we tried....hahaha....we really tried....and after many shaky shots, this was the best we managed to get!...LOL....you can see our smiles were all plastic from the chilly winds and retakes..=P
We did try asking someone to take for us lah....but...she just didn't capture what we wanted..=) still, the purple sky is so so nice!! hahaha...
Such sunsets always remind me that I must see the Northern Lights in my lifetime...I rarely, if ever make lifetime promises to myself...so this is one of the few... (eversince I was just in Secondary school and saw photos of it...). I wouldn't mind seeing it everyday 'live' actually...hahaha...Okies...finally, we were willing to leave the tower! After about over and hour on it!
Little did I know I'd simply fall more in love with it very soon....hee....
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