For all who know and love her, it's her birthday today...126 glorious years!

[Surya Gayatri]

Last edited Mon Mar 30, 2015, 11:46 PM - Edit history (4)

GOOGLE DOODLE IN FRANCE TODAY, MARCH 31:






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower



What a grand dame she is, too.

Construction started 28 January 1887
Completed 15 March 1889
Opening 31 March 1889
Owner City of Paris, France

Yes, in French she is a real lady, La Tour Eiffel

[haikugal]

1. I had no idea...

I share a birthday with la tour Eiffel, that's wonderful! Thanks, and happy birthday to us both. So beautiful!!

[Surya Gayatri]

2. Happy birthday to you and the Great Lady!

[haikugal]

4. I'm an oldie..

Like our beauty and I thank you

[mountain grammy]

9. Happy Birthday to both of you!

[haikugal]

13. Thanks!

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. happy bday

[hunter]

5. And they were going to tear her down after twenty years.

We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. Yes, can you imagine? How many millions of tourists

would never have caught their breath at the sight of her thrusting proudly into the Paris skies?

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I'm One Of Them

Went to the top. Once just took the stairs to the first deck. The other time took elevator to the top.

Very cool. Glad they didn't get rid of it.

[Surya Gayatri]

28. Fortunately, the French generally have a visceral

attachment to their buildings and monuments.

They would never pull anything down just to make way for a new parking lot or mall.

When the Pompidou Center appeared back in the 70s, there was an outraged reaction from the 'intelligentsia': ugly, eyesore, hideous.

Similar to the early rejection of the Eiffel Tower.
Now, 30+ years later, the Pompidou is a another beloved icon on the Paris horizon.

[oldandhappy]

7. WOW Happy Birthday!

You are a lovely and beautiful icon known around the world. Wear well dear one.

[Surya Gayatri]

8. May she reign on the Paris skyline for centuries to come!

[nikto]

10. That sure is an eye-full

[Unknown Beatle]

11. If the Eiffel Tower could talk.

Imagine all the stories she could tell. From intercepting enemy radio communications during WWI to hitler ordering her demolition during WWII to everything in between.

[Surya Gayatri]

14. She's lived through it all, in strength and beauty. And, she's still here

to tell the tale, if only she could!

[Art_from_Ark]

12. Here's her daughter,

born nearly 70 years later:

[Surya Gayatri]

15. Is this real? I knew there was a smaller-scale replica

in Vegas, but where is this?

[Art_from_Ark]

37. It's Tokyo Tower

It's definitely real-- I've even been in it before.

Here's its English-language web site:

http://www.tokyotower.co.jp/eng/

[Surya Gayatri]

38. Hi Art! Bit late to the discussion, but thanks for clearing that up!

[madokie]

16. Of all the man made items in this world I'd like to see this the most

I have a great niece living within seeing distance of there now. Beautiful girl with fiery red hair that is almost iridescence

[Surya Gayatri]

17. Well, try to round up the cash and get your 67-year old butt over

here on a (safety-secured) plane! It's high-time for a visit.

You don't have to worry about accommodation and the mighty $ is the best it's been against the € since its inception.

If you ever make it, madokie, PM me and I'll pass along my 'coordinates', as the French say.

You being one of my favorite DUers, it would be fun to hook up.

[madokie]

18. Thanks, I'd love to do just that

I haven't been out of the state more than a few times in the last 45 years, twice to Texas, twice to Arkansas and once to Kansas, so making a trip like this would be impossible for me.

[Surya Gayatri]

19. Well, how about this then?

http://www.3dmekanlar.com/en/eiffel-tower.html
Eiffel Tower - 3D Virtual Tour

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen32.html
Visite Virtuelle de la Tour Eiffel (superb, this one!)

Virtual Tour : Eiffel Tower

http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Paris-France
Paris, France • 360° Aerial Panorama

Enjoy!

[madokie]

20. Awesome, thanks

[Surya Gayatri]

21. My pleasure...I've suggested this compilation to others.

[madokie]

22. This is a great way for homebodies like me to see the world

[Surya Gayatri]

23. God bless Al Gore and the intertubes!...LOL!

[madokie]

24. Yup :-)

[pinboy3niner]

26. Thanks to the virtual tour...

"We'll always have parrots."

[Surya Gayatri]

30. Yes, but will they be able to talk like this? LOL!

Best talking parrot in the world! Clover knows 350+ words (with subtitles)

[BeyondGeography]

27. First time I walked underneath La Tour I couldn't believe how vast it is

Vaut le voyage, comme on dit. Much more impressive in person and it never gets old.

Also, I went to the American College in Paris, as it was called back then, The library is on Rue de Montessuy and you can see the Tower as you walk up the street with classic Parisian buildings in the foreground. Was I spoiled. I can also confirm there are worse places to hang out with a pretty girl than the Champs de Mars.

Thanks for the memories, Surya. It has its warts, but Paris is mankind's finest attempt to promote beauty as a path to human happiness here on earth.

[Surya Gayatri]

29. You are so welcome, dear BeyondG. You're a person

after my own heart here:

'It has its warts, but Paris is mankind's finest attempt to promote beauty as a path to human happiness here on earth.'

Came 30+ years ago and couldn't pull myself away. There's just something about her--she burrows into your heart and stays there.

Sans le moindre doute, elle vaut largement le detour ! (Without a doubt, she's more than worth the trip!)

When I first came, I lived in a 'maid's room' and worked as an 'au pair' (mother's helper)--just a crow's flight from the Champs de Mars. I used to take my charges to play in the gardens there.

I could see the beautiful grand dame from my 'was-ist-das' or transom window, up under the mansard roof.

[awoke_in_2003]

31. I hope to see it one day. nt

[niyad]

32. k and r for those incredible pics!

[Surya Gayatri]

35. Glad you enjoyed them, niyad!

Like any great architectural work or beautiful woman, she has so many moods, colors, facets...

[niyad]

36. those pics were stunning.

[Avalux]

33. I was there last year.

No matter where you are in Paris, the Eiffel Tower looms. She is a magnificent architectural masterpiece, and it was a dream come true to be there and ascend to her peak. Afterwards, we found a cafe about a block away that didn't disappoint. Now I want to go back!!

[Surya Gayatri]

34. Well, 'la Belle France' and 'la Ville de Lumière' (Paris)

would love to see you again! Come back any time!