THE EIFFEL OF PARIS
Do you know where you can get an “eyeful” of Paris? From the top of the
Eiffel Tower, of course.
But the name and the view only sound alike. The Eiffel Tower is named
for Alexandre Eiffel, a great French engineer. Mr. Eiffel built this
first skyscraper of them all before your grandparents were born.
France decided to have a fair to show off its finest goods, and wares,
and machinery. The people of France wanted the fair to have something
extra special in the middle of the fairgrounds, and Alexandre Eiffel was
picked to build it.
When the iron beams and bolts started to rise, many people did not like
the tower. They called it a gigantic skeleton. But when it was finished
and lighted up at night, they changed their minds. It looked like a
tower of lace.
If you take an elevator a hundred stories up to the top of the tower,
not only can you see the city of Paris, but you can buy a hot dog from
the highest hot-dog stand in the world.
But even without leaving your room in Paris, you can get an “eyeful”
from the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower has a TV antenna that sends
television programs all over Paris. Some people count the Eiffel Tower
as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
