Le Tour Eiffel. By Charlotte M. Pearse. The Eiffel Tower; Creativity beyond possible. Le francais est fier de lui.

Transcription

1 Le Tour Eiffel An inspiring landmark for the entire world. And especially me. By Charlotte M. Pearse The Eiffel Tower; Creativity beyond possible. Le francais est fier de lui.

2 Introduction Let s take a journey. Close your eyes, and count to ten. Now open them. You are now in Paris, France on the Champ de Mars. Look up, and think of what you see. Is it sparkling and blinking with pinpricks of light, glowing, igniting the sky over Paris? Is it a straight, tall, and strong structure, dazzling with wonderment and awe? Is it day, when the Eiffel Tower stretches up, and up into the bright blue sky, past clouds, while people rush to climb to the top? Is it night, when the Eiffel Tower reaches for the darkness of a sky, all aglow, lighting up the night, brighter than the stars, more brilliant than the moon, than anything? This, mon ami, is the famous Eiffel Tower, or Le Tour Eiffel, and it is the most awesome, and amazing thing in the entire world, so pay attention and get ready to learn all about it. The Eiffel Tower is an inspiring landmark for the entire world, and it is a stupendous work of art. Three hundred workers nailed you, The Prince of Wales unveiled you. Your countrymen have hailed you A star. A mountaineer has scaled you, Two parachutists sailed you, A million postcards mailed you Afar.

3 Gustave Eiffel intended you, To be so sleek and splendid you, Know nothing has transcended you, Mon cher. We tourists recommended you, Ascended and descended you, And all of us befriended you, Up there! Why was Le Tour Eiffel built? -J. Patrick Lewis France was in a political mess, and it had just been through a war that lasted from July 19 th, 1870, to May 10 th, The French Imperial army, Napoleon III leading as a general, fought hard against Germany in the Franco-Prussian War. This was included violence and radical political activity. This war happened during France s Third Republic. The last two decades, ten years after the war were often called the Belle Époque, or beautiful years because it was when the Eiffel Tower was in construction and after it was already built, but during the war it was bad times indeed.

4 A lot of French people liked the idea of having an Exposition, which is like a World Fair in which the main attraction was to be an at least 1,000 foot Tower to become the new tallest in the world. This idea suggested an opportunity to show the world France was doing fine after the Franco-Prussian War, and also impress them. The Exposition was decided to take place in 1889, the late 19 th Century, during the Belle Époque. Eduard Lockroy was to select the winner of many tall tower designs submitted, including the Eiffel Tower, and a giant watering can that would water Paris in time of a drought. Eduard Lockroy went over all the proposals, and chose the Eiffel Tower for it was the simplest and cheapest design to build out of all submitted, and he believed the strong structure would succeed to impress the world. Even though it was cheapest, it cost at least $34 million to build, maybe more. It was chosen in 1886 leaving less than three years for it to be built. Nobody liked the Eiffel Tower idea. They thought it would ruin the beauty architecture of France. Guy de Maussapant even sent a long letter of protest to Eduard Lockroy, but it came much too late. Since there was so little time, they had started the Eiffel Tower s construction right away. The Eiffel Tower was going up, and up it went. Construction & Design Le Tour Eiffel s construction went from and was designed by the ingenious Alexandre- Gustave Eiffel. It went up in The Eiffel Tower s stages of construction.

5 the Champ de Mars old military parade ground. There were four base pillars that intertwined to make a building that looked like an iron arrow launching up into the sky. They fancy metalwork on the wrought iron was beautiful. The wrought iron, from pit mines, was thought to make the Tower design more stable. 60 tons of paint were used on this awesome tower. There are some very interesting things to see at Le Tour Eiffel. There are three observation decks, each one higher than the last at 189 feet, 380 feet, and 906 feet out of the total height of Le Tour Eiffel, 1,063 feet, 986 without the antenna that tops it. There is a canteen for the workers, which was a place they could eat without going down from the Tower during construction, and all 300 workers could use it. 100 of their names were painted on the Tower for seeing the whole job through, the other 200 stopped working, demanding a pay raise halfway through construction. Their current pay had been in between 8 and 14 cents an hour. There are 1,665 steps in the This is where the names were painted. Inside the yellow box. Eiffel Tower from top to bottom, but luckily it sports elevators so you can get to the 45,200 square foot gallery on the first floor, the 9,700 square foot gallery on the second floor, and, the most exciting of the three, the 2,700 square foot dome surrounded by an external balcony on the third and topmost level. This stable structure is absolutely perfect. Surprised? You haven t heard anything, yet. The blueprints alone for the Eiffel Tower covered 14,352 square feet of paper. That s more than how high Le Tour Eiffel is! There was one blueprint for Here is a close up on the Eiffel Tower s beams.

6 each single beam in the entire structure. Try counting up that high! All the beams were put into place by a steam crane. The beams make up the structure and give the tower three main advantages; modernness, strength, and durability because the wind will blow through the holes, not knocking the Tower over. This design is utterly foolproof. Here are some cool things to know about Le Tour Eiffel s construction and design. One Parisian brought up a law-suit against Gustave Eiffel because (s)he was afraid it might fall on h(er,is) house, and Eiffel said he would take responsibility if any such thing ever happened. The Parisians and French wanted a Tower that had a beneficial purpose besides beauty, so Eiffel said he would perform science experiments from the top of it, and he did. Later on, the French wanted to tear the Iron Lady down, but didn t, because it made such a good Radio Tower. And they thought the design was ugly! It turned out to be very useful. Ugly Lamppost indeed! Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, one of the finest engineers in France, let alone Paris, was 53 when he designed Le Tour Eiffel, his boldest, and best, structure yet. And that really is saying something, for Gustave Eiffel (Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel was only his full, formal name) helped design the framework of This is Alexandre-Gustave the Statue of Liberty, or the La Statue de la Eiffel. Liberte, in French for that is where the statue was made, and then shipped in pieces to Liberty Island, where it stands today. I am sure you are all familiar with Lady Liberty. A

7 tall structure of a Lady in a robe, a torch in one hand, raised high, a plaque held close to her, in the other. A spiked crown atop her head, and her bare feet standing on an enormous pedestal. Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel is amazing indeed. This is the Statue of Liberty. Location O n the Champ de Mars Field, (an old Military Parade ground which the name is based off of) in Paris, a city in France, often called the City of Lights or the City of Love, lies Le Tour Eiffel, and many other This is a map of France. famous sights in close range, spread throughout France. Le Tour Eiffel, or The Eiffel Tower is the main attraction. There is also the Tour de France a largely famous bicycle race around France, The Notre Dame bell tower, The Arc de Trioumphe, a large archway, The Louvre Museum, The Fountaine de Medicis, The Place Saint Sulpiece Fountaine, and The Opera. In France, in addition to these famous structures, is a rich array of plant and animal life. France surely is one of the most amazing places on Planet Earth.

8 Culture of France Woman would wear something like this. France has a very amazing culture. The women would be elegant, with specific attire and guidelines to follow in public. The art and architecture in France is absolutely mesmerizing, Totalement et completement belle! The French go back into Renaissance Times, and many very famous actors and actresses are French. Their religion is very detailed and interesting, and it goes back to when the Guals and Celtics were starting, and many are still around. The folk tales are very descriptive. And the celebration on Bastille Day is always le meilleur! The fireworks display above Le Tour Eiffel you must see.. Happy Bastille Day! Tourist Attractions The Eiffel Tower is a very popular structure today, even though back in 1889, not many people liked the idea at first, they thought it would ruin the beauty of Paris. About 6 million people came each year, and in 1989 Le Tour Eiffel s 100 th Anniversary,

9 5.6 million people came on that day alone. In 1999, the record amount of people came that year at 6,368,534 people. And in 2006, the entry fee was only 3-11 Euros! This is French money. Euros. Summer is the most popular time to visit Le Tour Eiffel, for a few reasons. The weather is more pleasant, and school is out, obviously, are two reasons. Also, from June 11 th to August 29 th, the visiting hours are from 9 o clock a.m. to 12:45 a.m., but the rest of the year, the visiting hours are only from 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. There is a fireworks display as well, on Bastille Day, and that is in the summer. While visiting, you can buy and see many things. There are a number of interesting souvenirs to buy, such as Le Tour Eiffel snow globes, and mini-modules! In Paris, Le Tour Eiffel is much advertised. It is reproduced in paint, neon lights, and even chocolate! All tourists can buy any of these! Tourists can also climb up the 1,665 steps or ride the elevators (I suggest the latter) to any of the three observation decks, and enjoy the great view. These are some souvenirs you can buy.

10 Other Inspired Buildings Some of the world s tallest buildings in the world are these. As you can see, the Eiffel Tower is up there, but the current tallest is the Burj Khalifa. Some others are (in order) the Great Pyramid at Giza, our very own Le Tour Eiffel, the Empire State Building, the Petronas Towers, the Taipei 101, the World Trade Center, the Willis Tower, the CN Tower, the KVLY-TV Mast, the Warsaw Radio Mast, and then the Burj Khalifa. The competition for the World s Tallest Structure has been around for ages. Buildings that have been inspired by the Eiffel Tower, the thing is, there are a lot of them. There is a tower in Tokyo, the Seattle Space Needle, and Chrysler Building. So many other great towers are now using the simple structure made of iron to stay standing, for iron is very permanent. All because of Le Tour Eiffel. Fun Facts There are so many awesome facts about Le Tour Eiffel. Paris is sometimes referred to as la Ville de l Amour, the City of Love, or la Ville des Lumieres, the City of Lights, the latter is no wonder,

11 since the French set off a fireworks display on the French holiday during the summer, Bastille Day, around Le Tour Eiffel. It s kind of humorous; the French weren t that enthusiastic in 1886! The referred to this soul-catching structure as an Ugly Lamppost or Laid Reverbere as they would have said it in France. I like to refer to it as an Iron Arrow launching into the sky. Speaking of iron, the iron from Le Tour Eiffel came from pit mines. The French even wanted the Eiffel Tower torn down, but decided against it, because it made such a nice radio tower. One Parisian even brought up a law-suit against Gustave Eiffel, because he/she was afraid it would fall on his/her house. But now, all people are much more enthusiastic. Le Tour Eiffel has been reproduced in paint, photography, neon lights, and even chocolate! Even Adolf Hitler was a fan! This is Adolf Hitler and some of his troops in front of yours truly. Records are he ld for Le Tour Eiffel. It was the tallest building in the world for 40 years until the Chrysler Building was built in New York (New York). Malediction tout cela! It was even one of the Seven Wonders of the World once. This brilliant structure had science This is the Chrysler Building. experiments done on it by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel himself, the most ingenious man in the World, and was the test route for the invention of the Parachute Coat or Manteau Parachute. Like all great structures, Le Tour Eiffel has a dark side, though, and here it is; many people have jumped or fell of its high platforms to their untimely death. But never fear! Le Tour Eiffel has is more positive

12 than negative. Two balloonists raced around Le Tour Eiffel, as well. What a great structure! Conclusion Now it is time for our spectacular, educational, journey to end. I hope you will never forget Le Tour Eiffel. As you stand here, with me, take one last look up at that, shining, dazzling absolutely divine figure, and know all about it. The Eiffel Tower stands tall and strong for all to see. And the world looks at it, and sees it in all its brilliance. Le Tour Eiffel is singular, it s original. Gustave Eiffel is a genius. He created this Iron Arrow, this De Fler Fleche, and it s our job to shoot it as far as we can, so everyone, everywhere, in this beautiful, amazing, absolutely wonderful world we live in can see its true beauty, and be inspired. Le Tour Eiffel is an inspiring landmark for the entire world. A bow to all who hoist the spirit high, And carve imagination into stone. By fire, and forge, thrown hugely to the sky, Whether they be well-or-little-known. The tower in this research paper cements A thought: No matter who the builders were, They gave time to a timeless monument- A human star-chitecture signature. I cannot say what others make of this, The mystery of Stonehenge, and the Lost Petra,

13 And yet I know that they would miss Our Iron Arrow at a glance if it should fall. This research is for the curious at heart, Startled at sights they seldom get to see Or even dream of- science born of art, Such works of genius these were meant to be. -J. Patrick Lewis -Edited to fit by Charlotte M. Pearse

14 Work Cited Books Pezzi, Bryan. Structural Wonders; Eiffel Tower. New York: Weigl Publishers Inc Print. LeBoutillier, Nate. Eiffel Tower; Modern Wonders of the World. Mankato, Minnesota: Creative Education Print. Roeder, Annette. 13 Building Children Should Know. New York: Prestel Print. Curlee, Lynn. Skyscraper. New York: Simon & Schuster Print. Lewis, J. Patrick. Monumental Verses. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Soceity Print. Greene, Meg. The Eiffel Tower. Farmington Hills, Mississippi: Blackbirch Press Print. Sommers, Michael A. France; a Primary Source Cultural Guide. United States of America: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2005 Print Websites Statue of Liberty: of Liberty FREE l.htm Fireworks on Bastille Day: French Euro Coins: Eiffel Tower Souvenirs: Graph of Tall Buildings: archive.html Eiffel Tower at Sunset: French Woman in Dress: 19th.html Eiffel Tower above Fountain:

15 Eiffel Tower lit above City: Map of France: Gustave Eiffel: Adolf Hitler in front of Eiffel Tower: Stages of the Eiffel Tower s Construction Close up on Beams: Sword: Clip Art Globe: Clip Art Paper and Ink: Clip Art Names on the Eiffel Tower: Chrysler Building: Eiffel Tower above Evening Sky: Eiffel Tower Vertical View: