The Eiffel Tower, an immense stucture of exposed latticework supports made of puddle iron, was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of England) officiated at the ceremonial opening Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, one was unanimously chosen a radical creation from the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (b. Dec. 15, 1832, d. Dec. 28, 1923), who was assisted in the design by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre.In the basements of the eastern and western pillars, one can visit the gargantuan 1899 machinery which powers the elevators, an astonishing spectacle reminiscent of a Jules Verne novel. From the Tower's three platforms — especially the topmost — the view of Paris is superb. It is generally agreed that one hour before sunset, the panorama is at its best; don't forget to bring your camera, and experiment with the f-stop settings to capture a dazzling sunset on the Seine. If you can't be there in person, then check out a Live Aerial View of Paris with TF1's webcam online: from the top of the Eiffel Tower, you can see Paris in real time, 24 hours a day, whatever the weather conditions in the French capital. To get the most out of this view of Paris, we suggest you surf their web site between 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM GMT (1:00 AM and 3:00 PM Eastern Time in the U.S.), when the City of Light is at its best.ore than 500 people bring the Eiffel Tower to life each day. About one half are employed by SETE, the others are concessionaires (souvenir boutiques, restaurants, telescope operations, ATMs, behind-the-scene tours) and civil service employees (police, fire personnel, post office, weather).ore than 500 people bring the Eiffel Tower to life each day. About one half are employed by SETE, the others are concessionaires (souvenir boutiques, restaurants, telescope operations, ATMs, behind-the-scene tours) and civil service employees (police, fire personnel, post office, weather).
