The Eiffel Tower is an emblem of world tourism. This unique building, which is recovering from the Covid period, owes its popularity to a constantly renewed image.
With 7 million visitors per year on average, the Eiffel Tower is one of the ten most visited monuments in the world, according to the specialized site Statista. The “iron lady” seduces thanks to its vertiginous height of 324 meters offering a breathtaking view of the capital. It also seduces with its architecture, emblematic of an era when iron and cast iron became the symbols of industrial capitalism. The Eiffel Tower is built from an innovative material for the time: wrought iron, a variety of cast iron. Its construction lasted two years, two months and five days, an immense technical achievement in the 19th century.
In 1889, Gustave Eiffel and his engineers chose this material for its almost eternal longevity and its adhesion to paint. The tower, which weighs 10,100 tons, easily carries a coat of paint weighing 16 tons. Over the years, this venerable 133-year-old lady has changed color seven times, going from “Venice red” to today’s brown. It must be repainted every 7 years to prevent rust, as recommended by Gustave Eiffel himself. For the 2024 Olympics, it will finally take on its 1907 color: yellow-brown.
She makes lovers dream
But the Eiffel Tower is not just a monument, it is also a summary of the French way of life. There is also a world-renowned gourmet restaurant. It is run by “starred” chef Fréderic Anton. This restaurant is one of the highest in Ile-de-France, since you have to climb 125 meters to get there. A “seventh heaven” that clearly makes lovers dream, since the restaurant serves as a romantic setting for two marriage proposals every day, on average.
The restaurant is so popular that you have to book a table several months in advance. Another restaurant (the Eiffel Tower brasserie) with French chef Thierry Marx in the kitchen, opens for the summer of 2022.
Overall, attendance at the Eiffel Tower really took off in the 1960s with the boom in world tourism. Originally, in 1889, the first official visitors to the Eiffel Tower were none other than the British royal family and… Buffalo Bill, the famous American cowboy! Located in the heart of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is an accessible monument for tourists from all over the world, but today some complain that the security features prevent walkers from being able to wander under the tower. The attacks of 2015 went through this. And since the terrorist wave that hit Paris, a three-meter high bulletproof glass wall surrounds the monument.