French Names Written on Eiffel Tower, Paris, Blk Wt
by Liesl Walsh
Title
French Names Written on Eiffel Tower, Paris, Blk Wt
Artist
Liesl Walsh
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
This image is also available in color. See "French Names Written on Eiffel Tower, Paris". If you look closely at the Eiffel Tower you can see names of 72 French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians on it. Gustave Eiffel wanted to pay tribute to all who contributed to the building of the tower. The names on this side of the tower are: Ebelmen, Coulomb, Poinsot, Foucaul, Delauna, Morin, Hauy, Combes, Thenard, Arago, Poisson, and Monge. It's interesting that there is a street in the Latin Quarter of Paris named "Rue Monge". I don't know if it's the same person here. The Eiffel Tower is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was designed and built by the company of Gustave Eiffel, and completed in 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. It sits on the Champ de Mars and overlooks the Seine River across from the Trocadero. In the beginning there was much criticism for the design of the Eiffel Tower, with concern that it would overshadow the other magnificent sights in Paris, but now it is the most visited paid monument in the world with 6.91 million visitors in 2015. The Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet tall ( 324 metres); the top level's upper platform is 906 feet (276 metres) above ground, making it the highest observation deck for the public in the European Union. During construction pieces of the tower were riveted together in a nearby factory and arrived on site on horse-drawn carts. No drilling or shaping was done on site; if it didn't fit it was sent back for alteration. A total of 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets. The tower was painted in 3 shades of brown: lighter at the top and getting darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky.
You can read about our adventure in Europe in my husband's book, "Vagabonds in France", by Michael A. Barry. Come with us as we lose our home, put everything in storage, and navigate through Europe for a few months with no return date or home to come back to. Sail across the Atlantic, dodge pickpockets, climb mountains, descend into the Paris Metro, endure nasty weather and illness, witness the flood of the century, and meet some wonderful and not-so-wonderful people. Chuckle with us as we live among the French and try to learn their ways and language. Then make it back home to an empty house we'd never seen before. The book with its 75 illustrations is available in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCUNSEK .
Uploaded
August 28th, 2016
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