Today we stay in Europe, leaving Amsterdam and her enchanting canals we head to the equally enchanting city of Paris. However no art museums on this visit as we are here to see the Eiffel tower.
An iconic symbol of Paris and one of the most famous landmarks in the world the tower was built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in 1887-1889. Gustave was born 15 December, 1932 in Côte-d’Or, France (which is a limestone escarpment – the east facing slope being home to some of the greatest wines of Burgundy!)
After graduating engineering college, Eiffel got first big project to manage and install a railway bridge over the Garonne river at Bordeaux. The work successfully completed on schedule and afterwards he set himself up as an independent consulting engineer. He was involved in many metal work projects including: the Budapest rail station, a bridge over the river Douro in Portugal, the Exposition Universelle building in Paris and the Garabit Viaduct (a railway arch bridge in central France).
In 1881 Eiffel was approached by French sculptor August Bartholdi who needed an engineer to help him finish the Statue of Liberty. The entire statue was erected at the Eiffel works in Paris before being dismantled and shipped to the United States.
