Thursday, 24 October 2013

The Trip to Europe - Paris Part 2

More photos from my trip to Paris! Enjoy! Or should I say... amuse-toi! (Yes, I totally Google translated that, because my French is practically non-existent.)

But let's make this a bit more exciting than just random holiday snaps. For every photo with the Eiffel Tower in it, I will write an interesting piece of trivia about the said tower (yes, that means: prepare for a whole lot of Eiffel Tower coming your way!)


1) It was almost moved to Canada - In the early 1960s an agreement was made with the mayor of Montreal to temporarily move the Eiffel Tower to Canada. The company who owns the tower would not agree to the relocation. They feared the tower would not be returned to France. 


2) It was a military base - The Eiffel Tower was used by the military in the First World War. During the war, the French used the tower to guide their troops to the battlefield. Currently, the tower is used for television and radio broadcasting.

 3) It was a billboard - From 1925 to 1934, a French company named CITRON used the tower as a billboard. The sign was eventually removed when the company went bankrupt due to expensive electricity bills.


4) Printing press - There is a printing press located on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. It is still publishing a newspaper, and visitors can get their name printed in it.

 5) It was almost dismantled - The Eiffel Tower was almost dismantled and used for scrap metal 20 years after its construction. The French government decided to keep the building when they realised it could be used for radio broadcasting and necessary communication during times of war.

6) It leans in the wind - One of the most important things you should learn about the Eiffel Tower before you go up is that it moves in windy weather. In fact, the tower moved 13 cm during a severe storm in 1999!

 Hope you enjoyed that!

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