If You Love To Travel And Have Never Been To

There are so many great things to do in Paris, where shall I begin? When most people think of Paris, they think of the Eiffel Tower. So let me share with you a few things about the Eiffel Tower that you may not already know.

Let's start with a few facts about the tower, that might entice your idea of wanting to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal. Most people think the tower is made of steel, when in reality it was built with puddle iron. It is made of iron. The Eiffel Tower was built by Gustave Eiffel, in 1889 to commemorate the French Revolution. It took 40 tons of paint and it does sway 12 cm in very high winds. It was built along the River Seine.

Now, the ground floor of the Eiffel Tower has heavy machinery that has been in use since 1899. Its actually located underground and the massive hydraulic elevator designed by Gustave has been restored and computerized, as to why it is still in use today. There is also a monument of Gustave at the foot of the tower which was placed there in 1929.

There are a few souvenir shops around the base of the tower and a snack bar as well as the ticket office, where you can get your tickets to actually go to the very top of the tower!

Once you are inside the tower to the first floor here you can walk around or relax. Looking at all the displays that allow you to see the history of the tower as well as the present, and important events during its lifespan. A larger circular gallery leads you through a tour of sites and monuments .

There is also one section of the spiral staircase between the second and top floor that gustave himself used to get to his top floor office. However the staircase was dismantled in 1983. The segment remaining at the tower on the first floor is 4 meters high. There are several things to be seen on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. There are 1665 stairs on the east side of the tower to get to the top, however they are closed to the public. The stairs visitors actually take is from the ground level to the first and second floors.

On the second floor you will find a shop that offers snacks and souvenirs from Paris, as well as other things. There is also an animated window screen that tells the history of the Tower's construction. You can look through the glass windows that are located on the floor of the second floor, which goes all the way to the ground!

From the second floor you take the elevator up the 180 meter climb to the top. There are actually two levels, one inside and one outside. It is a breath taking view. Inside is a representation of Gustave's office complete with wax figures of Gustave, his daughter, and the inventor Thomas Edison. Edison was there giving Gustave a gift that was a phonograph and it is still there as well. You can visit the engineers office where the construction plans for the tower can be viewed. There are 360 degree panoramic photos of Paris making it easy to identify the city and landmarks that look so tiny from the outside of the tower.

If you go to Paris, the Eiffel tower is truly a site to see and explore. It is no longer the largest standing monument in the world, however when it was built, it was. In 2002 the Eiffel tower marked its ticket of the 2 million visitor into the tower. It is however the world's largest tourist attraction every year from visitors all over the world.

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