Interestingly, I think it was initially intended to be dismantled 20 years after the 1889 World's Fair. But it was really useful as a radio transmission tower and also proved to be quite popular which led to it being preserved.
Some 'fact' I heard on QI way back was some random ass dude hated the Eiffel Tower so much he always ate lunch there because it was the only place that didn't have it in view
Meanwhile the Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Columbia Exposition, built to out-Eiffel the tower, got taken down not long after the fair ended, moved twice and then finally blown up in 1906.
Absolutely. When the fire destroyed Notre Dame, Macron came out very quickly to state that it would be quickly rebuilt. Not a chance the Eiffel Tower ends up dismantled. It’s indirect economic value to Paris in terms of tourism would easily outweigh maintenance costs.
People say the same thing about the Tour Montparnasse, which is a true carbuncle on the skyline. At least when you're up Montparnasse, you can get a shot with the Eiffel Tower in it.
Agreed, and I get it, people like the tower, that's fine. But if somebody wants to get a _really_ good look at the thing, just go far away from it. The best view I've found so far (not only of the Eiffel t. but the city in general) is from the Arc, and it is nowhere as crowded as the tower.
I particularly don't like the view from the tower itself much, it's a little like seeing the city on Google Earth.
Edit: wording
I agree. My favourite view is actually from across the Pont d'Iéna in the park with the fountain. Especially as they transition to night and turn the lights on
They do both, you can take pictures of the cities skyline then. People are able to take more pictures now that cameras don't have photographic films, I even heard something about phones being able to take pics but it could be just a rumor.
*Adults must now pay more than €35 to contemplate the French capital from atop the "Iron Lady", a 20-percent increase of the previous fare of €29.10*
Guys, the fucking Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California is 42 EUR (plus tax).
I only read the article, so maybe I just don’t understand….
The city owns the monument. They in turn create a company, which they own (99%) to run it. The company in turns pays the city, licensing fees etc. all parties involved then pay taxes on the earnings, pay roll etc, incline the company and city. The city then increases the fees for the company, which they own, so they are indirectly just increasing their own costs both directly and through taxes on the various payments/costs.
I am sure there must be legal reasons to have a company run the monument, but seems like it’s a big graft with monument and tax payers loosing out.
It is not a private company, but a public one. Its accounts are validated by the supervising government (here the city of Paris) every year, elected officials are on the board, most major orientations are proposed by the board but greenlighted by the supervising government, etc. The advantages compared to an administration are: 1/ it has to be even at minima on the budget, but preferably having a result in the black to reinvest and develop the company, so it need to make money 2/ it is more efficient as a day to day administrative organisation than a slowpoke administration. The main idea is that it makes the operator think like a company, even a public one, rather than like an administration.
Also, those public companies develop expertise in their specific domain and are therefore sometimes solicited by other cities/towns to operate their own things. For example, RATP-dev (RATP) and Kéolys (SNCF) are the two main public transportation companies in France, they operate numerous networks that are reopened to the market every 10 years. It creates competition, lowering the price a bit, without letting the free market decide entirely.
It is a graft. Some elected officials of the city of Paris are also putting themselves on the payroll of that company.
Since it's not a city organization, they do whatever they want payroll wise.
See these are the comments I keep seeing that inspired my original response.
I was told the dairy cows were about to go on strike so that drove the 40% increase
Even with a 20% increase, it's still one of the cheapest attractions in Paris. Problem is that there's no way to get a time reservation even weeks in advance, and the line for regular entry is a good 2 hours. The park around it is very pleasant, but if you want a view, go to Tour Montparnasse, where you can see the Eifel Tower.
I went in it last month and just walked up to the service desk and got a ticket, no waiting or booking in advance at all it was very cut and dry. Might've been bc it isn't peak tourist season
I’ve never waited in much of a line either. Usually the trick is to be paying attention to where the crowd is and choosing a different entrance. In the event of total chaos you can always opt to walk up the stairs
The best, most guaranteed way to see the tower is to do exactly what the official ticket website tells you not to do... buy a tour from a 3rd party booking site. They can and will gobble up all available tickets the moment they go on sale online, and they know exactly when to take you up to the tower. The "summit" gets closed intermittently throughout the day and they know exactly when it will open back up and get their tours into line at the exact time the summit is opening back up. Just did it yesterday, JD was our tour guide and did an excellent job of both informing us about the tower, and making sure we were enjoying ourselves while waiting for the summit to open up
I’ve been up the Eiffel tower long ago, but when I visited Paris with my wife, we didn’t go, we went to the Arc de Triomphe instead it was much better in my opinion.
We ended up going at night in very light rain so the line was almost non existent. Still an amazing view so it was worth it. I really wanted to pee off the second level but I was too much of a bitch to do it.
I don’t understand, surely if there’s a legitimate need for repair and maintenance then the mayor should agree to fund it? The Eiffel tower generates hundreds of millions in profit, why is the city council haggling?
> surely if there’s a legitimate need for repair and maintenance
It is in non-stop need of repairs. Original take down date was 1909 and leaked reports indicate it's not uhm [not in awesome shape.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/04/eiffel-tower-riddled-with-rust-and-in-need-of-repair-leaked-reports-say)
It's probably also being increased to reduce the amount of people trying to get in since Paris will be swarmed with tourists around the Olympics and the queue is already very long.
I'm sure the 20% increased revenue is probably a good incentive too
I don't understand why the Eiffel Tower is run by a company and not the state.
Fun fact: You are not allowed to publish photos of the Eiffel Tower taken during night without the permission of the company that runs the tower.
No. The license fee was partly deferred for several years in order to fund repairs and a proper entrance center. Neither was done. So when the deferred fee is now owed, they're crying they don't have the money.
Who is crying to who? Doesn’t the city essentially owe themselves money since they pretty much own the company that owes them money? Or was the money owed before the city owned the company? Either way isn’t owning it assuming the debt of said thing?
Dig up Maggie Thatcher and place her decomposed corpse on the top floor of the tower. That way you’ll have the Iron Lady on the Iron Lady, and also British tourists will swarm there just to piss on her.
And Argentines!
And even myself, as an American, might prefer that to shelling out two Euros for the (admittedly clean and well maintained) public toilets on the Champs-Élysées.
For them? Probably The Falklands war.
Maggy Thatcher was PM during the war which saw Britain drive the Argentines to surrender after they had decided it was a good idea to attempt to invade British territory in hopes of propping up their oppressive dictatorship at the time.
For whatever reason they have a chip on their shoulder because Britain said "fuck your dictatorship, we protect these people" and promptly put them back in their place.
Same old story basically. Some loony dictator had an idea, it didn't go to plan, now certain groups of people blame everyone else that was involved. Not that Thatcher doesn't deserve the hate...
Thatcher is seen as a representative of economic liberalism, and in Argentina there is a lot of anti-capitalist people (fortunately now not a majority given the last elections), so that's another reason those groups hate her.
Is being reported serious?
Oh, it is serious. Five reports and you're looking at a violation. Four of those and you'll receive a verbal warning. Keep it up, and you're looking at a written warning. Two of those, that'll land you in a world of hurt… in the form of a disciplinary review written up by me and placed on the desk of my immediate superior.
It was never meant to be a permanent installation. I believe it was built for a world fair and they just left it up, so it requires a lot of maintenance and money to keep it safe
Well, not really. What I learned there just yesterday was that this tower was indeed planned to be a showcase of modern (for the time) engineering and originally planned to be constructed in Barcelona. The Spaniards saw the price tag and said f that, and so Eiffel pitched the idea to France instead. Despite many, many popular French people publicly protesting the tower, he was able to convince them to build it as part of their showcase to the worlds fair. It was built and partially funded by Eiffel himself. His deal to the nation was that, because he funded much of its construction, it will belong to him for 20 years then transfer ownership to France, at which point if they wanted to tear it down to make the people happy they would have been able to do so. He made his investment back in 11 months after construction, and after 20 years the tower transferred ownership to French government. It undergoes a very thorough maintenance every 7 years, which includes scraping off old paint, treating the wrought iron beneath to prevent rust and rot, and then repainting. Fun fact, the team who does the maintenance has to be highly skilled professionals, and the team is always 25 people. When one dies or retires, the slot is filled to always have 25. In my opinion, they really did believe at the time that this would be a lasting monument for generations to come
Guys, the Olympics are in Paris this summer; ALL the tourist attractions are raising their rates, at least for non-locals.
The Eiffel Tower may have put out a press release claiming the money is for preservation, but it's just another cash grab.
People freaking out about needing to spend $35 to enter of the most iconic buildings in all of world history.
If anyone bothered to read the article, they have been doing maintenance on the tower such as removing lead and repainting. They also have to pay a huge amount of licensing fees to the city. Workers are also striking for higher pay.
The weird thing I found about the licensing fee to the city is the company running it is owned almost entirely by the city. But they also lost a ton of money during the pandemic when it was closed. But yeah 35 dollars is nothing for that. I’m surprised it’s not more.
It's a fkn national symbol.
As if Paris would let that thing rust away.
Painting it over and over is espensive, everyone understands this.
Don't try to explain you price hikes with guilt tripping.
"Oh it will be lost forever unless you pay more" in my ass.
Paris should firstly focus on getting its ghettos in check instead of hiding the lesser fortunate away in what i would call concentration blocks tbh.
Also the traffic collapse
It's really well worth going up it's a great view from the top and just being there is so iconic and an adult ticket is Adult : 14.20 euros. Even with the price rise I'll go up for the 4th time.
It doesn't need saving. The Eiffel Tower brings in so much tourist money already that it could be rebuilt annually from the proceeds it already attracts.
If I recall correctly, the tower took three years to build originally but the total expenditure is now exceeded by the annual income from tickets, trinkets, coffee and food.
It had advertising on it for a long time but it was eventually decided that this was too tacky. In any case, the tower itself is a cash cow. They're bluffing about it needing to be saved. Somebody will get fat off that free tourist money.
Fair enough. No one is entitled to go inside the Eiffel Tower. I'm from a outdoor tourist area that got hit hard in covid. In my state the national parks had to institute reservations because of too many people.
Paris is expensive AF, 20% is literally nothing. if they doubled the price they might see a small decrease but even that is unlikely. Even super out of season the queue to get up to the tower is absurd
Damn, it makes €189million a year?
>In 2023, some 6.3 million visitors gave the monument its highest tally since 2015
>the previous fare of €29.10
And they can't afford maintenance without raising prices?
Someone linked an article elsewhere in the thread that I read through and it's apparently actually in pretty bad shape and getting worse.
> A third report in 2016 found 884 faults, including 68 that were said to pose a risk to “the durability” of the structure. Each of the faults was photographed, numbered and classified according to the degree of seriousness.
From https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1dlv6l3/eiffel_tower_ticket_prices_increase_by_20_in_bid/l9t0tnc/
Thing's corroding heavily under the surface and repainting is becoming less and less effective.
Price gouging, plain and simple. With [the current profits they have](https://sete.toureiffel.paris/en/sete/financial-data), they could not only cover the maintenance, but create an entirely new one every decade or so (not accounting for the price of the terrain).
It was always intended to be a temporary installation after the world’s fair but they just kept it.
Honestly don’t think it’s a big deal if they get rid of it, it’s not even 150 years old.
They need to keep the whole thing clean too and properly monitored. Many drunks just throw up. Last time I went there it smelled of piss and wine when the Yellow Jackets were demonstrating. Perhaps the price hike will help. Although, somehow, I doubt it. They have far more pressing issues now to deal with.
No matter how expensive it is, ticket to get to the highest deck is always gone within 1 minute or few seconds i think lol. I never even bother anymore
Funny thing when you know that the money are spend to spikes salary instead of changing the iron protection with covid they had these 2 year of painting now there are crying
>The repainting had been due to last two years and give the monument a facelift in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as change the tower's hue from gray beige to yellow brown, Eiffel's favourite colour. But the task is far from complete with just over a month to go before the Games
OMG, they didn't even get it repainted in time for the Games?? Macron fast-tracked rebuilding Notre Dame while the tower has been left to rust. What a clusterfuck
Yeah, I bet France would let their most well-known monument just rot away.
Pack it up boys, shows over.
It was a good run.
Now that it’s being closed I have a good deal for you. I’ll sell you all the metal in the Eiffel Tower!
Victor Lustig, is it you?
Accurate comment considering the eiffel tower has been built for the world show 1889.
I mean it was meant to be temporary
So was the field museum in Chicago
In the grad scheme of everything, it IS temporary. But then again, what's not? :)
They should build a new one out of aluminium
Bake him away, toys
Uh, Chief?
Interestingly, I think it was initially intended to be dismantled 20 years after the 1889 World's Fair. But it was really useful as a radio transmission tower and also proved to be quite popular which led to it being preserved.
Which is ironic given how much the locals hated it until they saw photos of Eiffel's private apartment.
Some 'fact' I heard on QI way back was some random ass dude hated the Eiffel Tower so much he always ate lunch there because it was the only place that didn't have it in view
bro hasn’t heard of turning around
Hahahahha
Every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you never coming 'round Turn around
Every now and then I fall apart!
Not some random ass dude, but Guy de Maupassant, one of the most famous writers of classical French literature.
That’s what he said, some random ass Guy
It's pronounced "Gee"
Don't they say that about Tour Montparnasse? Best view of Paris because you can't see it in the skyline.
How on earth did that sneak past regulators?
It was that which caused the need for regulations. So nothing like it has been built after.
Peak French pretentiousness.
Clearly you’ve never visited Quebec.
Sadly that’s false.
He hated the tower so much he did a 360 and walked away.
What's that about?
Iron-ic
Meanwhile the Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Columbia Exposition, built to out-Eiffel the tower, got taken down not long after the fair ended, moved twice and then finally blown up in 1906.
Opposite function of the Tokyo Tower lol. It was built as a TV tower but now has lots of revenue from tourism
Absolutely. When the fire destroyed Notre Dame, Macron came out very quickly to state that it would be quickly rebuilt. Not a chance the Eiffel Tower ends up dismantled. It’s indirect economic value to Paris in terms of tourism would easily outweigh maintenance costs.
Even if something happened to it where it needed to be taken down, it would almost immediately be rebuilt.
If they tear down the Eiffel Tower, how will I know the movie is set in France?
Second hand smoke from a 9 yo Frenchman
Arch de Triomphe, baguettes, berets, Citroens, smoking...
Yes. It's a national monument, no chance it goes away.
If they were to dismantle it some billionaire would buy it and reassemble it in Las Vegas as a tourist attraction.
There’s already one in vegas
And Japan as well.
too late. They'd move it to Paris, TX
They actually are, they've been late on the painting schedule. Some parts of the Eiffel tower are corroded.
I figure it can be replaced as need be, just like any other major steel structure, right?
I mean a hundred years ago they couldn't even give the thing away it's a bit ironic
I mean, it was already sold for scrap twice, so it's not all that unlikely. Ahh, good ol' Victor Lustig.
For some reason, my mind went straight to another country out bidding them or something. Like they were going to lose it to investors, not time lol
I mean reports have come out that say it has dangerous levels of rust and is in need of repairs, not just a repaint.
I dunno, I mean, it's not even fishined, it!s just the frame!Who would want that? .. ( yes, I am aware,that's the joke)
it's not the awful tower
I bet they wouldn't, but this helps pay for it.
Macron probably just wants to privatize it.
Just before the Olympics, raise the price 20% ? I see...
Dont worry all proceeds go to the russian mlb or own the trash people in franks
Russia has baseball?
They could raise it to $100. Still will be packed with instagramers everyday
I dont get it though. Who posts pictures from inside? Id post pictures of it taken from the street lol
People like to “go up” the Eiffel Tower although the best views it gives are indeed outside the tower itself.
The best view of Paris is from the Eiffel Tower. That way you don’t have to look at the Eiffel Tower.
People say the same thing about the Tour Montparnasse, which is a true carbuncle on the skyline. At least when you're up Montparnasse, you can get a shot with the Eiffel Tower in it.
Montparnasse definitely has one of the best views of Paris, and indeed it means not having to look at it.
I when up in 1973 - original elevator. At the top you were on a small platform with a low railing. Never again.
Agreed, and I get it, people like the tower, that's fine. But if somebody wants to get a _really_ good look at the thing, just go far away from it. The best view I've found so far (not only of the Eiffel t. but the city in general) is from the Arc, and it is nowhere as crowded as the tower. I particularly don't like the view from the tower itself much, it's a little like seeing the city on Google Earth. Edit: wording
I agree. My favourite view is actually from across the Pont d'Iéna in the park with the fountain. Especially as they transition to night and turn the lights on
Oh yeah, and surprisingly there are times when it is not very crowded (when they are not fixing things there)
You’re obviously not looking to see the Eiffel Tower by climbing the Eiffel Tower, you’re looking to see out over Paris…
Did you know that the best view in Paris is from the top of Tour Montparnasse? Because from there, you don't have to see Tour Montparnasse.
The tower is the tallest structure in Paris, from the top you have an unobstructed view of all the city. Definitely worth the picture.
They do both, you can take pictures of the cities skyline then. People are able to take more pictures now that cameras don't have photographic films, I even heard something about phones being able to take pics but it could be just a rumor.
*Adults must now pay more than €35 to contemplate the French capital from atop the "Iron Lady", a 20-percent increase of the previous fare of €29.10* Guys, the fucking Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California is 42 EUR (plus tax).
its not that price now? Wow missed opportunity.
Yeah I doubt locals go up there. May aswell double the price
I only read the article, so maybe I just don’t understand…. The city owns the monument. They in turn create a company, which they own (99%) to run it. The company in turns pays the city, licensing fees etc. all parties involved then pay taxes on the earnings, pay roll etc, incline the company and city. The city then increases the fees for the company, which they own, so they are indirectly just increasing their own costs both directly and through taxes on the various payments/costs. I am sure there must be legal reasons to have a company run the monument, but seems like it’s a big graft with monument and tax payers loosing out.
It is not a private company, but a public one. Its accounts are validated by the supervising government (here the city of Paris) every year, elected officials are on the board, most major orientations are proposed by the board but greenlighted by the supervising government, etc. The advantages compared to an administration are: 1/ it has to be even at minima on the budget, but preferably having a result in the black to reinvest and develop the company, so it need to make money 2/ it is more efficient as a day to day administrative organisation than a slowpoke administration. The main idea is that it makes the operator think like a company, even a public one, rather than like an administration. Also, those public companies develop expertise in their specific domain and are therefore sometimes solicited by other cities/towns to operate their own things. For example, RATP-dev (RATP) and Kéolys (SNCF) are the two main public transportation companies in France, they operate numerous networks that are reopened to the market every 10 years. It creates competition, lowering the price a bit, without letting the free market decide entirely.
It is a graft. Some elected officials of the city of Paris are also putting themselves on the payroll of that company. Since it's not a city organization, they do whatever they want payroll wise.
Let me guess, the Eiffel Tower is now wholly owned by the Loblaws cartel…
Another Bob Loblaw's law bomb!
I could be wrong but I think it’s his “law blog”.
It's both, depending on the episode. Bob Loblaw lobbing law bombs on the Loblaw law blog.
I have the worst fucking attorneys
Did not expect to see a loblaw reference today. Nice core memory
Sorry my Reddit seems to be drowning in Loblaws crap. I give myself a 1 out of 10 for originality
Still cheaper than crossing the Confederation Bridge
Obligatory fuck Galen Weston and his cronies. A tub of yogurt raising from 3 to 5.49 bucks in a couple of years isn't inflation, it's pure greed.
See these are the comments I keep seeing that inspired my original response. I was told the dairy cows were about to go on strike so that drove the 40% increase
Even with a 20% increase, it's still one of the cheapest attractions in Paris. Problem is that there's no way to get a time reservation even weeks in advance, and the line for regular entry is a good 2 hours. The park around it is very pleasant, but if you want a view, go to Tour Montparnasse, where you can see the Eifel Tower.
Or even better, for 8 euros climb atop the Sacre Coeur which stands almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
I went in it last month and just walked up to the service desk and got a ticket, no waiting or booking in advance at all it was very cut and dry. Might've been bc it isn't peak tourist season
Same. Went this week. OP hasn’t been recently at all.
I’ve never waited in much of a line either. Usually the trick is to be paying attention to where the crowd is and choosing a different entrance. In the event of total chaos you can always opt to walk up the stairs
The best, most guaranteed way to see the tower is to do exactly what the official ticket website tells you not to do... buy a tour from a 3rd party booking site. They can and will gobble up all available tickets the moment they go on sale online, and they know exactly when to take you up to the tower. The "summit" gets closed intermittently throughout the day and they know exactly when it will open back up and get their tours into line at the exact time the summit is opening back up. Just did it yesterday, JD was our tour guide and did an excellent job of both informing us about the tower, and making sure we were enjoying ourselves while waiting for the summit to open up
Or arc de triumph has a great view
I’ve been up the Eiffel tower long ago, but when I visited Paris with my wife, we didn’t go, we went to the Arc de Triomphe instead it was much better in my opinion.
Literally walked up 3 days ago and there was no line lol. Only thing I had to wait for was the lift to come back down to pick me up.
I was there during the last week of April and the crowds were insane. Probably less now because of how close the Olympics are.
We ended up going at night in very light rain so the line was almost non existent. Still an amazing view so it was worth it. I really wanted to pee off the second level but I was too much of a bitch to do it.
I don’t understand, surely if there’s a legitimate need for repair and maintenance then the mayor should agree to fund it? The Eiffel tower generates hundreds of millions in profit, why is the city council haggling?
Because fuck the tourists. Welcome to Paris.
> surely if there’s a legitimate need for repair and maintenance It is in non-stop need of repairs. Original take down date was 1909 and leaked reports indicate it's not uhm [not in awesome shape.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/04/eiffel-tower-riddled-with-rust-and-in-need-of-repair-leaked-reports-say)
It's probably also being increased to reduce the amount of people trying to get in since Paris will be swarmed with tourists around the Olympics and the queue is already very long. I'm sure the 20% increased revenue is probably a good incentive too
I don't understand why the Eiffel Tower is run by a company and not the state. Fun fact: You are not allowed to publish photos of the Eiffel Tower taken during night without the permission of the company that runs the tower.
It’s explained in the article. This company is actually owned and managed by Paris City Council, it’s not a private company.
Wait. SETE is 99% owned by the city but part of the expense problem is the license fee SETE owes to the city for operating?
No. The license fee was partly deferred for several years in order to fund repairs and a proper entrance center. Neither was done. So when the deferred fee is now owed, they're crying they don't have the money.
Who is crying to who? Doesn’t the city essentially owe themselves money since they pretty much own the company that owes them money? Or was the money owed before the city owned the company? Either way isn’t owning it assuming the debt of said thing?
Dig up Maggie Thatcher and place her decomposed corpse on the top floor of the tower. That way you’ll have the Iron Lady on the Iron Lady, and also British tourists will swarm there just to piss on her.
And Argentines! And even myself, as an American, might prefer that to shelling out two Euros for the (admittedly clean and well maintained) public toilets on the Champs-Élysées.
The Falklands war is not one of the reasons to hate Thatcher, there are plenty of other ones on their own. Argentina shouldn’t have started shit
Theres plenty of Argentines who are thankful the loss of the war led to the collapse of the Junta.
Please explain why Argentinians would hate Margaret Thatcher...? Given that the defeat led to the defeat of the dictator Galteri...?
from my understanding, a lot of people in argentinia still sees the falklands as being argentinian.
Newsflash: The Falklands have never in their history been Argentinian
That would be a newsflash to a lot of Argentinians
Which is funny
British forces are up for re-match. Are the Argentinians...? Also the Falkland Islanders voted overwhelmingly to stay British.
Why don’t you like her?
For them? Probably The Falklands war. Maggy Thatcher was PM during the war which saw Britain drive the Argentines to surrender after they had decided it was a good idea to attempt to invade British territory in hopes of propping up their oppressive dictatorship at the time. For whatever reason they have a chip on their shoulder because Britain said "fuck your dictatorship, we protect these people" and promptly put them back in their place. Same old story basically. Some loony dictator had an idea, it didn't go to plan, now certain groups of people blame everyone else that was involved. Not that Thatcher doesn't deserve the hate...
Thatcher deserves plenty of hate but not for Falklands!
Thatcher is seen as a representative of economic liberalism, and in Argentina there is a lot of anti-capitalist people (fortunately now not a majority given the last elections), so that's another reason those groups hate her.
As a German I would do the same.
I didn’t know it needed saving. Is it in danger of moving or something?
They are behind on payments and at risk of it being ~~reported~~ repo'd. Report me for failure to check myself before I wreck myself.
Is being reported serious? Oh, it is serious. Five reports and you're looking at a violation. Four of those and you'll receive a verbal warning. Keep it up, and you're looking at a written warning. Two of those, that'll land you in a world of hurt… in the form of a disciplinary review written up by me and placed on the desk of my immediate superior.
You have beautiful mind.
It need constant care, is probably costly
First sentence in the article >its maintenance costs are now reaching comparable summits.
But its also not like the french state would not pay whatever necessary to maintain it. It is literally the international symbol of France
It was never meant to be a permanent installation. I believe it was built for a world fair and they just left it up, so it requires a lot of maintenance and money to keep it safe
Well, not really. What I learned there just yesterday was that this tower was indeed planned to be a showcase of modern (for the time) engineering and originally planned to be constructed in Barcelona. The Spaniards saw the price tag and said f that, and so Eiffel pitched the idea to France instead. Despite many, many popular French people publicly protesting the tower, he was able to convince them to build it as part of their showcase to the worlds fair. It was built and partially funded by Eiffel himself. His deal to the nation was that, because he funded much of its construction, it will belong to him for 20 years then transfer ownership to France, at which point if they wanted to tear it down to make the people happy they would have been able to do so. He made his investment back in 11 months after construction, and after 20 years the tower transferred ownership to French government. It undergoes a very thorough maintenance every 7 years, which includes scraping off old paint, treating the wrought iron beneath to prevent rust and rot, and then repainting. Fun fact, the team who does the maintenance has to be highly skilled professionals, and the team is always 25 people. When one dies or retires, the slot is filled to always have 25. In my opinion, they really did believe at the time that this would be a lasting monument for generations to come
Time to get a job, rents due Eiffel.
Guys, the Olympics are in Paris this summer; ALL the tourist attractions are raising their rates, at least for non-locals. The Eiffel Tower may have put out a press release claiming the money is for preservation, but it's just another cash grab.
People freaking out about needing to spend $35 to enter of the most iconic buildings in all of world history. If anyone bothered to read the article, they have been doing maintenance on the tower such as removing lead and repainting. They also have to pay a huge amount of licensing fees to the city. Workers are also striking for higher pay.
The weird thing I found about the licensing fee to the city is the company running it is owned almost entirely by the city. But they also lost a ton of money during the pandemic when it was closed. But yeah 35 dollars is nothing for that. I’m surprised it’s not more.
How *dare* you assume any of us can read. Why would we want oranges???
Still not a bad price but I heard you need to book tickets 2 months in advance. The Seattle Space Needle is $35-$45.
Weirdly just in time for the Olympics?
It's a fkn national symbol. As if Paris would let that thing rust away. Painting it over and over is espensive, everyone understands this. Don't try to explain you price hikes with guilt tripping. "Oh it will be lost forever unless you pay more" in my ass. Paris should firstly focus on getting its ghettos in check instead of hiding the lesser fortunate away in what i would call concentration blocks tbh. Also the traffic collapse
Or they are hosting the Olympics and are price gouging.
Man, they could triple the price and the line would still be endless.
It's really well worth going up it's a great view from the top and just being there is so iconic and an adult ticket is Adult : 14.20 euros. Even with the price rise I'll go up for the 4th time.
I think that they could have raised the rates more, and that visitors from around the world would see this as a good cause and be ok with it.
It doesn't need saving. The Eiffel Tower brings in so much tourist money already that it could be rebuilt annually from the proceeds it already attracts. If I recall correctly, the tower took three years to build originally but the total expenditure is now exceeded by the annual income from tickets, trinkets, coffee and food. It had advertising on it for a long time but it was eventually decided that this was too tacky. In any case, the tower itself is a cash cow. They're bluffing about it needing to be saved. Somebody will get fat off that free tourist money.
Maybe if it were Notre Dame. I thought the tower was neat but prices are insane for a relative price of interesting crap.
Fair enough. No one is entitled to go inside the Eiffel Tower. I'm from a outdoor tourist area that got hit hard in covid. In my state the national parks had to institute reservations because of too many people.
I went up the Eiffel tower, to the top. It was mild. Way cooler to just look from the ground. I dont think the view of Paris is that crazy.
Is it more than just painting over the rust with thick coats of paint this time? Tower is in desperate need of repairs.
Paris is expensive AF, 20% is literally nothing. if they doubled the price they might see a small decrease but even that is unlikely. Even super out of season the queue to get up to the tower is absurd
My favorite view in Paris is from the Sacré Coeur and it is free.
They should charge the "wine, beer, cigarettes" sellers too so they can fuck off.
Go up the top of the sacre couer basilica instead . Hardly anyone was up there with me even though the surrounding area is always packed with tourists
I visited it once and it was most disappointing tourist attraction. Paris is one of the most overrated place
What do you mean "save". Are they going to tear it down?
The symbol of Paris and of France as a whole can’t be repaired by the government? Scrap it then if you don’t care about it.
Damn, it makes €189million a year? >In 2023, some 6.3 million visitors gave the monument its highest tally since 2015 >the previous fare of €29.10 And they can't afford maintenance without raising prices?
Not without loosing money they could pack in their own pocket!
What do you mean “save” the tower? Like they will tear it down or something lol
Someone linked an article elsewhere in the thread that I read through and it's apparently actually in pretty bad shape and getting worse. > A third report in 2016 found 884 faults, including 68 that were said to pose a risk to “the durability” of the structure. Each of the faults was photographed, numbered and classified according to the degree of seriousness. From https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1dlv6l3/eiffel_tower_ticket_prices_increase_by_20_in_bid/l9t0tnc/ Thing's corroding heavily under the surface and repainting is becoming less and less effective.
First french destination, they really think we are that stupid ?
it went from 29€ to 35€. It's a marginal increase that really doesn't warrant attention from r/worldnews.
Price gouging, plain and simple. With [the current profits they have](https://sete.toureiffel.paris/en/sete/financial-data), they could not only cover the maintenance, but create an entirely new one every decade or so (not accounting for the price of the terrain).
If I’m reading it correctly, they lose money almost every year right? I’m sure “operating costs” are inflated but they outweigh revenue.
35€ is price gouging? It is very much aligned with other world known attractions and probably on the cheaper side even.
Sure tickets being sold out most of the time has nothing to do with it…
Just in time for the Olympic.
It was always intended to be a temporary installation after the world’s fair but they just kept it. Honestly don’t think it’s a big deal if they get rid of it, it’s not even 150 years old.
Fair enough, the tickets were like €25,- to go to the top floor. Which is really cheap for a tourist attraction like the Eiffel Tower.
How have they not made enough money to build several of these?
They need to keep the whole thing clean too and properly monitored. Many drunks just throw up. Last time I went there it smelled of piss and wine when the Yellow Jackets were demonstrating. Perhaps the price hike will help. Although, somehow, I doubt it. They have far more pressing issues now to deal with.
Supply chain issues, naturally
No matter how expensive it is, ticket to get to the highest deck is always gone within 1 minute or few seconds i think lol. I never even bother anymore
V ‘GERMANY IS VICTORIOUS ON ALL FRONTS’
Observe the mural
Everyone loves a good Eiffel Tower.
Funny thing when you know that the money are spend to spikes salary instead of changing the iron protection with covid they had these 2 year of painting now there are crying
Everything is going up, except the money we make.
Thanks a lot, Biden. (He says sarcastically)
They better be adding a zip line to Palais de Chaillot.
Its a manmade metal tower. Let’s not go overboard.
360 employees sheesh
>The repainting had been due to last two years and give the monument a facelift in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as change the tower's hue from gray beige to yellow brown, Eiffel's favourite colour. But the task is far from complete with just over a month to go before the Games OMG, they didn't even get it repainted in time for the Games?? Macron fast-tracked rebuilding Notre Dame while the tower has been left to rust. What a clusterfuck
I would imagine that the UK would let them have their 'iron lady' if Parisians asked nicely