I can only say that this is what I expect out of a country like France and a world famous tourist site.
Taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower at night for any reason other than personal use is, technically, a violation of French copyright law, notes EU Observer, a European policy and current affairs website. A daytime photo is fine—copyright on the structure itself has expired—but night time photos remain problematic because the light show is more recent than the tower itself.
And it only gets 7 million paid visitors each year, compared to over 91 million to Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, the world’s most visited tourist attraction or site. Even Disney World in Orlando receives 19 million guests. And the tacky Hollywood Walk of Fame in Southern California gets about 11 million visitors. Bourbon Street in New Orleans gets about the same number of visitors, though there is no admission charge like Eiffel.
Certainly, this is also typically French:
Fashion, history and gardens. It’s an only-in-Paris experience at the Palais Royal, where luxury shops line the columned arcades of a 17th century palace.
It’s a stellar location for visitors: The Palais Royal sits in the 1st arrondissement opposite the Louvre and near the Jardin des Tuileries. Nestled in its Montpensier and Valois galleries, high-end designers Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Rick Owens and others show both their latest collections and vintage clothing in windows that reflect the trees, serene rose gardens and grand historic architecture.
Galerie Montpensier shop of Didier Ludot features Dior, Chanel, Paco Rabanne and other classic designers. Gabrielle Geppert’s shop, Lux & Vintage, has chic, vintage clothing with another boutique next door that shows her own design collection for accessories, including bags, belts and jewelry. Taiwan designer Sophie Hong’s boutique resembles a refined jewelry box with a small, precious interior, displaying her unique hued silk fashion creations. British designer Stella McCartney’s shop window in the Galerie de Valois features her line-drawn faces – a motif used on sweaters, tops and jackets.
Fortunately for me, I know nothing about this stuff. I can tell you that I will skip this stop, even though you are hoping to get a first hand account of all the designer items I have purchased.
A tailor accidentally killed himself jumping from the Eiffel Tower
Franz Reichelt, an Austrian-born tailor, was the inventor of the parachute-coat. Never heard of it? That’s probably because the invention was far from a success. Reichelt was granted permission to test his product from the Eiffel Tower in 1912, but when the day came he insisted on jumping himself, and not using a dummy, as was expected. Despite the protests of friends and spectators, he leapt from the first platform – and his invention failed.
And here is a comment from the typically boring travel expert, Rick Steves:
Some of Europe’s most famous attractions are so cliched (read: crowded and expensive) that you might be tempted to skip them. The Eiffel Tower, for example, can be seen for free from all around Paris; why bother paying to visit it? The answer is simple: This icon of European travel is a once-in-a-lifetime, I’ve-been-there experience.
So go, and go all the way — to the top. Making the trip gives you membership in the exclusive society of the quarter of a billion other humans who’ve been there. The tower may be a cliche, but it’s also a thrill. You’ll feel proud you made it so high (make an advance online reservation, and you’ll scoot right in).
Actually, making an online res is a great suggestion, not available back when I went.
And, now, the Eiffel is part of the 21st century, as follows:
How do you update a 125-year-old landmark? For the Eiffel Tower, the answer came in the form of a glass floor from the 187-foot-high first-floor level. Visitors can now be transfixed by not only the city views unfurling all around them, but also those below them—in the latest example of a recent trend that includes the Grand Canyon’s Skywalk and Chicago’s Willis Tower. The first floor’s $38 million renovation includes restaurants, solar panels, shops, and a museum. But the highlight remains this new see-through floor. So next time you’re at the Eiffel Tower, keep an eye out lest you trip over selfie-takers lying down on the glass. (from Travel and Leisure).
More: PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower has been given a vertigo-inducing face lift as organizers celebrate the Paris monument’s 125th anniversary.
The 324-meter (1,063-foot) tower now has see-through glass floor panels on its first level. The four small viewing sections, which cost 30 million euro ($38 million), were unveiled to visitors Monday. Though the first level is only 57 meters (187 feet) high, it’s not for the faint-hearted. The iron-lattice tower is the world’s most visited paying attraction, and was erected for the 1889 World Fair.
