The Eiffel Tower Paris France is one of the top tourist attractions in the world and stands as a testament to the feats of human ingenuity and architecture. The Eiffel Tower has been home to many romantic proposals; even Tom Cruise chose to pop the question to Katie Holmes at the top of the tower! In fact, this monument is so beloved that a woman named Erika Naisho actually legally married the Eiffel Tower in 2008! There’s just something about the scenic French Riviera and the magic of France that incites people’s passions. There are, in fact, many intriguing facts about this magnificent tower.

At first glance, the Eiffel Tower looks as though it is firm, immovable and unchanging. Yes, it is constructed using a hefty 7,300 tonnes of metal and it is over 120 years old now, but did you know the 984-foot tower shrinks six inches on cold days? Additionally, the tower is currently wet. Its massive repainting began in March 2009 and is expected to take 18 months to complete, using 60 tons of paint in three different shades of brown. Occasionally, you may look out your Paris hotel window and catch a glimpse of an Eiffel Tower ad campaign. In the twenties and thirties, ads for Citroen cars adorned three of the sides. During World War II, German troops hung their banners from the tower to celebrate their takeover of the city. In the late seventies, a Greenpeace protestor hung a “Save the Seals” sign on the tower. Today, ads are rarely seen on the monument, but a company called Apoteo Surprise will flash your personal engagement message under the Eiffel Tower for €2,490.

Engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel is best known for his namesake monument, the Eiffel Tower Paris France, but it wasn’t his only magnificent feat. Before working on the tower, which was set for completion several weeks before the Exposition Universelle of 1889, he also constructed more than fifty bridges across Europe. The three-story La Ruche building, beloved by luminaries like Jean-Paul Sartre and Jean Renoir, is another one of Gustave’s historic creations. Eiffel has a train station in Chile, a church in the Philippines, a post office in Vietnam, a bridge in Belgium and a hotel in Romania, to name a few projects. He was also one of the key designers when the French were in charge of building the Panama Canal. (Well, everything can’t be a shining success, right?) It’s also interesting to note that the tower may have been the “Bönickhausen Tower” had Gustave’s father not changed their surname to “Eiffel” upon arriving to Paris from Germany.

There are often deals on flights to see the Eiffel Tower Paris France from the U.S. For instance, Iceland Air offers a flight from Boston to Paris for just $419 round trip. At www.bt-store.com, travelers can go from New York to Paris for $616 round trip. Cabs from Charles de Gaulle Airport to central Paris can rack up the cost of travel though, with $75 one-way rides. However, the RER B Line train can also take passengers from the airport to six subway stations for just $12. Another option is to hop aboard the Roissybus, which leaves from Terminals 1, 2 and 3 traveling to L’Opéra Garnier for $13. Travelers may also want to fly to the smaller Orly Airport if they can, as it’s $30-$40 cheaper to get to and from.

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