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NO WORRIES PARIS

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NO WORRIES PARIS

Tag Archives: Eiffel Tower

Tour Eiffel: the world’s most viewed attraction

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in Paris guide, Paris photos, Paris tips

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Eiffel Tower, No Worries Paris, paris blog, Paris monuments, paris walks

The sane approach is with the No Worries Paris guide.

tour eiffel no worries paris

Perhaps the world’s most beloved and recognized structure, the Tour Eiffel was not received warmly by most Parisians when it was built as part of Exposition Universalle in 1889. Some 300 artists and civic leaders signed a petition of protest. Later, novelist Guy de Maupassant used to lunch on top, since it was “the only place in Paris where I don’t have to see it.” Colleague Alexandre Dumas called the “hollow candlestick” a “work of uselessness.” Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty, won a contest among engineers to build a tower of 1,000 feet, which was nearly twice as high as the Washington Monument, then the world’s tallest.

A communications tower on top brings today’s height to 1,063 feet, the tallest structure in Paris. It was scheduled to be torn down and scrapped after 20 years, but meteorologists and communications scientists won a plea to let it stand. Find a spot amid digital shutterbugs directly underneath the tower and look up to behold the stats: Under Eiffel’s direction, some 300 workers labored for two years (incurring zero fatal accidents) to assemble 18,000 pieces of prefabricated iron lattice weighing a total of 10,000 tons with more than 2.5 million rivets. The project came in under budget and a week early. It is the world’s most-viewed attraction with nearly 300 million visitors, coming these days at a rate of ten million per year. The first level is at 187 feet, the second at 377 feet (these two reachable via stairs), and the top is lofted at 899 feet—where wind sways the structure up to five feet.

TIPS FOR VISITING TOUR EIFFEL: Given the essential sights on the remainder of this walk, you’ll probably want to save an ascent for another day. To avoid lines and save time, arrive a little before it opens, normally at 9:30. It’s cheaper and faster, given the lines, to walk the first two levels, which takes about 15 minutes. If you want to go to the top, you can buy an elevator ticket in addition to the stairway ticket (at the south tower). To ride all the way to the top (you have to get out at the second level anyway), use the east tower ticket booth. Don’t miss the cinema and museum on the first level. The second level is ringed by two viewing decks, and the height is just right to check out the sights of the city, laid out like a 3D model. Since Paris has a seven-story height limit on buildings, the well-known monuments are plainly visible. Many people will want to reach the top as a matter of principle, but the airborne view is less intimate. At night, on the hour, Tour Eiffel turns into a light show. Closing time can be as late as midnight, varying with the season.

Jerry and Janine Sprout. No Worries Paris (Kindle Locations 354-370). Diamond Valley Company, Publishers.

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3 Square Rapp: Art Nouveau gone mad

13 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in Paris Wanderings

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art nouveau, Eiffel Tower, Jules Lavirotte, No Worries Paris, paris walks

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From this square you get an extraordinary view of the Tour Eiffel.  Turn around and behind the extravagant wrought iron fence you’re in for a surprise.  Art Nouveau gone mad, a masterpiece,  you make the call.  Jules Aimé Lavirotte was the architect of this flamboyant structure constructed in 1899.  A whimsical turret, a sampling of many styles of balcony, doors, ceramic textures, swirly ironwork –  but does it all meld into one eyepleasing facade? Hmmmm. To his credit his artistic work brought him acclaim among his contemporaries, and won him the Concours de Façades de la Ville de Paris on at least two occasions:

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Other examples of Lavirotte’s work can be found at:

151 Rue de Grenelle, 7th arrondissement (1898)
134 Rue de Grenelle, 7th arrondissement (1900)
29 Avenue Rapp, 7th arrondissement (19011
12 Rue Sedillot, 7th arrondissement (1899)
Ceramic Hotel, 34 Avenue de Wagram, 8th arrondissement (1904)
169 Boulevard Lefebvre, 15th arrondissement (1906)
23 Avenue de Messine, 8th arrondissement
6 Rue de Messine, 8th arrondissement (1907)

 

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Paris: love is in the air and it’s still only January

02 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in Paris Wanderings

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Eiffel Tower, No Worries Paris, palais de chaillot, paris guide, Paris guidebook, Paris pictures, Paris sculpture, paris travel, paris walks, worlds fair

PalaisDeChaillot

Tourists do the darndest things for a photo. This one, by Leon Drivier called “Joie de Vivre” is touching if you look directly at the sculptural faces smiling down at the person reaching up on her tiptoes. We are at the Palais de Chaillot, also named Trocadero, crowning the Chaillot hill facing the Eiffel Tower. The Palais du Trocadéro was built for the World Fair in Paris in 1878, dismantled then replaced by the Palais de Chaillot in 1937 for the international Arts et Techniques dans la Vie moderne fair. Much to do here, bustling every day. Find all the museums, check out the dramatic view of the Eiffel Tower and more in your No Worries Paris guide.

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December birthdays to celebrate

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in Paris Wandering, Paris Wanderings

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Ada Lovelace, Eiffel Tower, Emily Dickinson, Google Doodles, Gustave Eiffel, Louis Pasteur, No Worries Paris, paris photos

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel celebrates his 179th birthday on December 15, seems so long ago and yet the mighty tower symbolically stands there so fresh. Louis Pasteur turns 180 on Decembert 27. And Americans Emily Dickinson, 181 today and Ada Lovelace, 197, the enchantress of numbers, are to be included in this Monday blog-of-the day.

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Cool off at Jardins du Trocadero

04 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Trailblazer Travel Books in Paris Wanderings

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Eiffel Tower, Jardin Trocadero, No Worries Paris, Paris fountains, Paris guidebooks, paris walks, Universal Exposition 1898, World Fairs

When it heats up in Paris point yourself in the direction of the Eiffel Tower and head for the grassy banks along the Fountain of Warsaw, a long basin with twelve fountains spewing water 12 meters high at appointed hours. Most dramatic are twenty powerful water cannons able to shoot water fifty meters, a great photo op. Just know when to expect the pumping jets of water. The entire site was originally the Palais du Trocadero, part of the Exposition Universelle in 1878.

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