I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower a couple of times in person. But I’ve never been to the top. Now King’s Island is a different story. There is a mini-version there. I’ve been on that one. Viva la France! And as a sidebar. When I was young, young, I thought people were calling it the “Awful Tower,” and I conjured all sorts of visions in my little head.
But. Back to the real one. In Paris. In France. Built in 1889, and for 41 years, that good old Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest man-made structure. It stands at 1063 feet, or 324 meters, depending on whether you are American or the rest of the world. Of course, today, there a bazillion more buildings taller than 324 meters. But it remains Paris’s tallest structure.
It started out being built as the entryway to the 1889 World’s Fair. More than 250 million people have visited since then. I’m not sure if I am counted as a visitor or not, since I didn’t buy a ticket to go up in the thing. Or if I am a visitor for just having stopped by to have a look or two.
The French didn’t want it there, to begin with. But since then, it has become one of the world’s most beloved landmarks. However, with all its successes, there have been plenty of failures, tragedies, and downright scary occurrences there.
The first story is just terrible, I think. A jumper fell on a restaurant’s clear roof, and the people inside just kept eating. It is true. It happened in 2009. A teenage tourist from Brazil leaped from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Her brother frantically tried to stop her, but she jumped over the railing before he could not reach her. She landed on the clear roof of a restaurant 180 feet below.
The people inside barely stopped to notice. One waiter reported that the smashing noise was like a bomb going off. Then the roof cracked. He said everyone quickly realized what had happened, but that most of the customers just carried on eating. I’m not sure what I would have done. There was no helping the girl at that point. She was terribly dead. But. Could I have gone on enjoying my cheeseburger? I doubt it.
Since we are on the subject of jumpers there, it is reported by TIME Magazine that 349 people have taken their own lives at the Eiffel Tower since 1889. Contrary to popular belief, the victims aren’t all jumpers. There are at least a few documented cases of hanging. And not all attempts are successful, either. There have been some who have jumped from the first level and have survived the fall. That’s a big, big drop from way up there.
Since the late 1960s, barriers have been effective in stopping jumpers.
Here are some cool things about the tower, though.
On hot days, it can grow about seven inches taller.
There are hidden tunnels and bunkers underneath the Eiffel Tower. In fact, there are more than 180 miles of tunnels hidden beneath Paris.
The tower features a penthouse apartment originally created for Gustave Eiffel. That is the guy who developed the project. During his lifetime, Eiffel kept the apartment under close guard. He denied many lucrative offers to rent the space. Instead, he personally invited elite guests, such as Thomas Edison. Those types of guys.
And finally. No old building or structure would be complete without a few ghosts hanging about.
The ghost story begins in the 1920s with a marriage proposal since the Eiffel Tower is a favorite spot for getting down on one knee. In this case, an American man fell in love with a woman there. One day they agreed to meet atop the Parisian landmark. The thing was, they had very different intentions in mind.
He wanted to propose, and she wanted to break up. She thought the gorgeous view might help soften the blow. Before she got the chance to deliver her breakup speech, he got down on one knee and proposed. She rejected the offer, and he allegedly pushed her off the side of the tower in a fit of rage.
And that was the end of things, especially for the woman, dead on the ground. Today, the woman allegedly haunts the Eiffel Tower. Tourists have reported hearing her nervous giggles. Next comes her harrowing screams. The eerie serenade continues in an endless loop.
So there it is. A few good stories from Paris about their beloved Eiffel Tower.
Another reminder, that no matter where we go, there are stories living there. The things that happened before we visited the spot. And the stories that will come after. We are all a part of this history of Earth, every minute that we live. Oh. And one more thing. We’re all visitors.
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“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
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“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”
― Albert Einstein
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“I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’m gone which would not have happened if I had not come.”
― Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children
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That big French tower. More than iron.
