It would be most difficult to produce a Paris Travel and Information Guide without including the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Tower construction was started in 1887 and was completed in 1889. It has been the official and unofficial symbol of Paris ever since.
The tower is actually 324 meters high, if you include the antennaes for radio and television. Speaking of antennaes, there are currently 120 antennaes around the Eiffel. The total weight of the Eiffel is 10,100 tons.
Enough data for you? Well, just one more fact, and then we’ll move along. As everyone knows, Paris is known as the “City of Lights”, and the Eiffel contributes to that designation with its 20,000 light bulbs in use when the tower is transformed into the Sparkling Tower during the evening hours!
Entrance to the Eiffel tower is not free, but it isn’t expensive either. The current rates to visit depend upon your age and how far up the Eiffel you want to experience. Elevator admission to the top of the Eiffel is 12 francs for all over 12 years of age; 6.70 francs for children between 3 and 11 years of age. Second floor entrance via the elevator is 7.80 and 4.30 francs respectively, and 1st floor elevator is 4.80 and 2.50 francs. If you would like to take the stairs (for your health I suppose!), adults over 25 years of age pay 4 francs, while those under 25 will be 3.10 francs. You can go to both 1st and 2nd floors with this entrance. Disabled and youth rates pay a little less, but you can use this official Eiffel Tower resource to find out the exact rate on the day of your visit.
Video of the Eiffel Tower
The people that post videos on the Eiffel Tower sure love the time lapse videos! Here’s one of our favorites, although there are a ton of them available. Enjoy!
VirtualTourist.com just released a list of the Top 10 Ugliest Buildings and Monuments and the Montparnasse Tower in Paris is listed as the #2 ugliest building. I have to concur, as the City of Lights is known for some fantastic architecture, but this stick in the middle of the Parisian landscape just looks extremely weird compared to very short buildings surrounding it.
The building itself actually is titled Tour Main-Montparnasse. It stands 689 feet with 59 floors. It was completed in 1972 and is the tallest building in all of France. The building is built directly above the Montparnasse-Bienvenue Paris Metro. The 56th floor is open for tourists to view the city. This is actually the best use of the building for most Parisians and visitors alike since you can see the entire city without the Montparnasse Tower being in your line of sight. The 56th floor includes a restaurant, so it’s a great place to have a meal and enjoy the skyline. Other Links regarding Montparnasse Tower:
The video below is a little grainy, but it gives you a good sense of what your visit to the top of Montparnasse will be like. Enjoy, and be sure to view a few of the other videos available also once this one ends!
Street Map of the Montparnasse Tower Location
At the time we added the map, you could see a pretty large shadow of the Tower, so look for that in the map. You can switch to just streets on the map by clicking the buttons in the map.
This is a pretty decent Youtube video giving the viewer about a 3 minute history of the Notre Dame Episcopal cathedral in Paris, France. I’m not sure if the video is old, or if it’s just produced to make it look a little older, but it does give the overview a nice look on the Cathedral. Close ups of Notre Dame are included in the video. Enjoy!
Satellite View of the Notre Dame Cathedral Location
It would be most difficult to produce a Paris Travel and Information Guide without including the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Tower construction was started in 1887 and was completed in 1889. It has been the official and unofficial symbol of Paris ever since.