A major competition was launched in the “Journal Officiel” [Official Gazette] for the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) of 1889, for the centennial of the French Revolution. The challenge was to “study the possibility of building an iron tower on the Champ-de-Mars with a square base measuring 125 metres on each side and 300 metres in height.” The project by Gustave Eiffel, a businessman, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, engineers, and Stephen Sauvestre, an architect, was selected from among the 107 projects presented. The monument was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, when Gustave Eiffel climbed the 1,710 steps of the Tower to place France’s tricolour flag at its summit.

 

The Tower was an attraction at first, but in the 1920s it became a symbol of modernity and the avant-garde. Little by little, its image became associated with Paris, becoming its worldwide symbol. It is only fair that poets, painters, singers, choreographers, film makers and photographers have regularly paid homage to it.

 

The Eiffel Tower, through its size and structure, has inspired the most sophisticated and original lighting creations and innovations. Whether a sparkler, Parisian lighthouse, advertisement, showcase, Christmas tree, dressed in red or fireworks centre, its history has been closely linked to light. Enchantment. Bedazzlement. Memories…. On the night of its inauguration, ten thousand gas burners outlined the great iron lady’s robe!

 

Since 31 December 1999, the EiffelTower has been sparkling with 20,000 lights every evening for 10 minutes at the start of every hour until 2 am.

 

The history of Eiffel Tower restaurants is closely linked to its greatest moments and started when the monument opened to the public in 1889. The Eiffel Tower offers its visitors the most dizzying tables in Paris: delights for the eyes combine with ravishments for the taste buds. Today, the Tower proposes a full range of restaurants, from snack bars to French haute cuisine.

 

Just a few minutes from the Eiffel Tower, you will love the Hotel Bourgogne & Montana whose location across from the Palais Bourbon makes it a truly “chic” Parisian address. Some rooms at the Hotel Bourgogne & Montana have a view over the Eiffel Tower, the National Assembly or Place de la Concorde.

 

You can also admire the Eiffel Tower’s sparkling from the Terrass Hotel in Montmartre. The terrace of its restaurant, Le Diapason, affords a breathtaking, romantic view. You can enjoy its refined, inventive cuisine which exclusively uses fresh produce.