Eiffel Tower: Big Birthday

Celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, the Eiffel Tower is getting a new coat of paint. A team of 25 specialists, armed with 1500 brushes and mountain-climbing gear, will apply some 60 tons of lead-free paint in “Eiffel Tower bronze” to the 984-ft tall Parisian landmark—an operation that happens every seven years, and takes a full year to complete. The Tower also has a brand new brasserie, the 58 Tour Eiffel, on the 1st floor—the first elevator stop, that is, at 58 meters up (190 feet)—designed by Patrick Jouin, who also redesigned the elegant Jules Verne restaurant on the second floor (at 125 m, 410 ft), both run by superchef Alain Ducasse. Like the Tower itself, and everything else in it, the new brasserie was a technical challenge, with every element, from Jouin’s unique wire-mesh chairs to the special cutlery, carefully calculated so as not to weigh too heavily on the main structure. The kitchens are downstairs, and all the food comes up in a service elevator. To round off the festivities, a big exhibit at the Hôtel de Ville honors Gustave Eiffel, Le Magicien du Fer, documenting the history of the Tower’s creation, and the other extraordinary engineering feats of the indefatigable Monsieur Eiffel.

The Exhibit: In honor of the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower this year, the City of Paris has put on an exhibit documenting the long career of the engineering genius and “magician of iron”, whose many other achievements include bridges, viaducts, the interior structure of the Statue of Liberty and, in 1917, at age 85, the design for a fighter plane.
On through August 29th, 2009
Hôtel de Ville, Salle Saint Jean, 5 rue Lobau, 4th, Métro: Hôtel de Ville
Free Admission
01.42.76.51.53.
website

Read more on the genius of Gustave Eiffel

Originally published in the July/August 2009 issue of France Today.