The Eiffel Tower is located on the Left Bank (that is, the southern bank) of the Seine river, at the northwestern extreme of the Parc du Champ de Mars /paɹk dy ʃɑ̃ də maʁs/, a park in front of the École Militaire that used to be a military parade ground (whence the name), in the southwestern portion of the city. The four pillars supporting the tower are aligned to the points of the compass, and the base covers almost exactly the area of two (American) football fields placed side by side lengthwise.

The nearest Métro stations are Bir-Hakeim /biʁ akɛm/ to the southwest, and Trocadéro /tʁokadeʁo/ to the northwest. The former is at the same level as the tower and somewhat closer, but less scenic; the latter is on the side of the Parvis (Plaza) du Trocadéro opposite the tower, so if you get off at that station, you can take a very scenic walk through the Trocadéro and down across the Seine to the tower, with many good photograph opportunities. One of my pictures of the tower was taken from this location.

The area of the tower is in the chic seventh arrondissement of Paris, also the home of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister’s palace, and the Hôtel des Invalides. This district is roughly at the eight-o’clock position on a map of Paris, and somewhat more centered than the adjacent Fifteenth.

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The tower is 324 metres tall today, which is about 108 stories. Originally, it had no television tower (there wasn’t much television in 1889), and so it was 12 metres shorter. The levels accessible to the public are at heights of 57.63 metres, or 19 stories; 115.73 metres, or 38 stories; and 273 metres, or 89 stories. From the summit, you can see as far away as Chartres (to the southwest) on a clear day, although days that clear are rare in Paris, thanks to weather and pollution. It is by far the highest structure in Paris; contrary to what some claim, the Montparnasse Tower, is only a little over half the height of the Eiffel Tower.

Only about half a dozen buildings in the world are taller than the Eiffel Tower, and almost all of them are in the United States (however, the tallest of all—the C.N. Tower—is in Canada).

The base of the tower covers a square area of 100 metres (the length of an American football field) on a side. You can stand in the center of the area at the base and look directly up at the floor of the second level, 38 stories above.

The tower is built of puddled iron (very pure structural iron), and weights 7300 metric tons. It is thus extremely light—the tower actually weighs roughly the same as the air that surrounds it. If a scale model of the tower 30 cm high were constructed, it would weigh only a bit more than an American nickel (a nickel weighs five grams, whereas the model of the tower would weigh seven grams).

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The Eiffel Tower belongs to the City of Paris. The city grants a concession to operate the tower to the Société Nouvelle d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (New Eiffel Tower Operating Company), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crédit Foncier, a large French bank. This company just runs and maintains the Tower; it does not own it. The concession is periodically renewed, although the city reserves the right to give the concession to someone else if it so chooses (it has not so chosen recently).

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The Eiffel Tower has been painted in a number of different colors throughout its history, but today, it is painted a color called “Eiffel Tower beige,” which turns out to be the color of milk chocolate, and it is used in three very slightly different shades at different elevations of the tower (higher elevations use a lighter shade), in order to accentuate the impression of height. The paint is synthetic and silicone-based, and the entire structure is repainted over a period of 6-7 years by several dozen highly-acrobatic painters, by hand (no automated way of painting the tower has ever been satisfactory). The most recent repainting operation (the eighteenth) began in 2001 and will last for two years. See my photograph of the waiting line at the base of the tower for a good view of its actual color.

In the late afternoon and around sunset, the redness of the sunlight makes the tower look somewhat orange (see my main photograph of the tower for an example). At night, the tower is lit from within by a very energy-efficient arrangement of sodium-vapor discharge lamps, which produce an orange-yellow light (like most modern streetlights). This makes the tower look almost gold in color. (See my night photograph for an example).

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From the highest public level of the tower, at 273 metres, you can theoretically see for a distance of just over 59 km (a little under 37 miles). However, because the region surrounding the tower includes a lot of rolling hills, some points even further away are visible, whereas other points at near distances are not visible (because they are hidden by other hills).

In reality, it's rare to see that far from the tower, anyway, because the air usually isn't clear enough to permit it. The best time to try is in August, when many Parisians are on vacation and the air pollution isn't quite as bad. On a good day, after a rain on a breezy day in August, you might actually be able to see for the full 59 kilometres.

Most of the time you can only see for 10-15 km or so from the top. In bad weather (including rainy weather), you may not even be able to see the ground.

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I'm afraid not. The Eiffel Tower was partially funded by the French government as a key attraction for the International Exposition of 1889; the rest of the cost was covered by granting the proceeds from admissions to the company that built it (Gustave Eiffel's structural engineering and construction firm) for a period of years.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from philanthropists in France to the United States. It was privately funded by a variety of fund-raising events, although it took a long time to raise the necessary money. The cost was shared, with the pedestal upon which the statue stands being paid for by Americans, and the statue itself being paid for by the French. As far as I know, no government funds went into it (originally).

The two things these structures have in common is that they were both built around the same time (1885 and 1889 for the statue and tower, respectively), and the structural metalwork for both was done by Gustave Eiffel's company: he built not only the Eiffel Tower but also the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty. Supposedly he had a fit after finishing the frame for the Statue of Liberty when the sculptor (Bertholdi) suddenly decided that he wanted the statue's arm held a bit higher, which required a redesign (and eventually caused damage which had to be repaired when the statue was restored a hundred years later).

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You can climb the stairways to the first and second platforms (roughly 19 flights and 38 flights, respectively) for 3.00 € (as of January 2002). You can only reach the summit by elevator, however. The stairways, while wide and sturdy and enclosed in a wire barrier, are nevertheless suspended within the open iron latticework of the tower, so if you are afraid of heights, you might want to skip this.

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The tower was built for the Universal Exposition of 1889. It was almost torn down on several occasions, until the advent of radio and television made it permanently important as a transmission tower. For many years, it was the tallest man-made structure on the planet. The tower is still the tallest structure in Paris by a very wide margin. In photographs, it doesn’t look as big as it actually is, because there is nothing nearby with which to compare it. The first visit to the tower in person is usually quite a surprise. The comment I hear most often is “Wow! It’s bigger than I thought!”

The tower was designed and built by engineer Gustave Eiffel /gystav ɛfɛl/, a recognized expert in the use of structural iron. Eiffel built many other equally well-engineered structures (including the supporting framework for the Statue of Liberty), but the tower that bears his name is his major claim to fame. Even today, the tower is a marvel of engineering; it is extremely strong and light, for example.

The tower is such an important French institution that it was pictured on the last of the French 200-franc banknotes to be issued before the country converted to the euro—next to a portrait of Gustave Eiffel himself.

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For a trip all the way to the top by elevator, the cost for adults is €10.70 (€5.90 for children under 12). For a trip only to the first level, the cost is €4.10 for adults, and €2.30 for children. For a trip only to the second level, the cost is €7.50 for adults, €4.10 for children.

You can also climb the stairs as far as the second level for a lower price; but it’s a very tough climb in an open stairway, and it should not be undertaken by anyone with heart problems, knee problems, any fear of heights, etc. The stairs cost €3.80 for persons 25 and older, and €3.00 for persons under 25.

Children under three years old are admitted for free. There are modest discounts for groups, especially in the off-season (winter).

(Prices given here were valid on August 16, 2005, but the SNETE continues to hike prices by 5-10% a year or more, so this can change at any time.)

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In French, the Eiffel Tower is la Tour Eiffel. The word tour means “tower” in French (in addition to meaning the same thing it means in English), and it pronounced pretty much like the English word of the same spelling, so the entire pronunciation would be /la tuːʁ ɛfɛl/.

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Yes, although this isn’t normally noticeable. On days with high, gusting winds, the wind can reach speeds in excess of 160 km/h at the summit of the tower, and a person at the summit can feel the tower swaying gently. Under such wind conditions, the tower is usually closed to the public, although there is always an engineer present at the summit to monitor telecommunications equipment. The magnitude of the sway in the tower, under worst-case conditions, is about 15 cm; this record was set in 1971, but it might have been beaten in the windstorms of December, 2000 (I have not been able to check this).

I saw a particularly interesting demonstration of this on television some years ago. During a period of heavy winds, a live broadcast from the summit showed an engineer seated behind a large wrench suspended from the ceiling at the end of a string. The wrench was swaying gently to and fro like a pendulum, through an arc of 10 cm or so. I hope the engineer was not prone to motion sickness!

There is no danger of the tower being damaged by wind-induced movement, however, since it is designed to withstand movements easily five times beyond those produced by the highest winds ever recorded.

Today, the movements are monitored by a laser alignment system, and are displayed in real time for visitors; I have a picture that illustrates this, if you’re interested in seeing it.

The tower also leans very slightly in bright sunlight, as one side is heated by the sun and expands slightly.

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Not unless you keep your eyes tightly closed for the duration.

Although the Eiffel Tower is no longer the tallest structure in the world, it is still relatively unique in that it is an open metal structure, and not an enclosed building. This means that, while riding the (glass-walled) elevators to the summit, you can easily look down through the delicate latticework directly at the ground below, 100 stories away. At the summit, you can peek through windows and through tiny joints in the deckplates at the ground directly below. This will not make you happy if you have any fear of heights.

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Yes. There is a small post office in the tower itself.

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Yes. The old 200-franc banknote (the equivalent of slightly less than $US 40 at one time) has several pictures of the Eiffel Tower on it, as well as a picture of Gustave Eiffel himself as the banknote’s portrait and watermark. All French-franc banknotes were replaced by the euro on January 1, 2002, so you are not likely to encounter the 200-franc note today (and it is no longer legal tender).

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Yes; in fact, there is a line almost all the time. The wait can be several hours during peak periods in high season, but it can amount to only five or ten minutes during off-peak periods. I have a picture of this, if you’d like to see what the line looks like.

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Yes. The names of 72 French scientists and other famous individuals are permanently affixed to the sides of the tower in 60-cm letters just beneath the first platform, with 18 names per side. They are rarely visible in photographs, but you can see them easily from the base of the tower in person, and I have a photo of them in my gallery. They are part of the original tower design.

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Yes, at http://www.tour-eiffel.fr.

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Yes. Unfortunately, the tower's romantic appeal seems to attract depressed and suicidal individuals almost as well as it attracts tourists and young lovers.

Nearly four hundred people have jumped from the tower, or fallen (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference). Most incorrectly estimate their trajectory and hit the tower during the fall, since it becomes wider as you approach the base. They usually end up stuck on the iron frame of the tower, and must be removed—often in pieces—by firefighters. (Parisian firefighters serving the Eiffel Tower must regularly climb the tower by hand in order to practice for this type of rescue, in fact.) Survivors can be counted on one hand.

Current safety equipment in place makes it impossible to accidentally fall from the tower, so only deliberate and very determined suicides still manage to kill themselves with a fall from the Eiffel Tower.

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No. There was one fatal accident on the site during the period of construction, but it occurred outside working hours and was not really work-related.

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Counting from the ground, there are 347 steps to the first level, 674 steps to the second level, and 1710 steps to the small platform on the top of the tower. The public can only climb as far as the second level via the stairways. Public access to the summit is by elevator only.

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The cost was about 8,000,000 French Francs at the time of construction.

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No. The lower part of the tower was temporarily mounted on hydraulic jacks during construction, in order to facilitate the proper alignment of the tower up to the first level. Once that was accomplished, the jacks were removed, and the tower was permanently anchored to the piers at each corner of the base.

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Only as far as the second level, and only via the elevators. For security reasons, they are not permitted to visit the summit (if you visit the tower, you’ll understand why this is not practical).

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The Eiffel Tower is lit at night by more than 350 sodium-vapor lamps mounted within the structure of the tower itself, making the tower look more gold than brown at night. This lighting scheme, designed by lighting specialist Pierre Bideau, is a major improvement over the rows of external floodlights that used to light the tower prior to 1985 (when the new system was installed). The new system is brighter, makes the tower more visible, and is more energy-efficient. I have a picture of the tower at night, if you are interested.

The Tower also is equipped with revolving searchlights at the summit that operate continuously at night, as well as thousands of tiny flashlamps that make the tower sparkle for the first ten minutes of every hour in the evenings.

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Yes. In addition to snack bars, there is a Michelin-rated restaurant on the second platform, called the Jules Verne /ʒul vɛʁn/; it is a very tiny restaurant (only a handful of tables), with a great view. (Be sure to reserve at least a few months in advance, and bring lots of money.) There is also a more ordinary restaurant on the first platform, called Altitude 95; prices are lower, and you don’t need to reserve months in advance, and the view is still great (it faces the Seine River).

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A very nice plastic scale model of the tower is sold by Heller in France, under reference 81201. It's the only model I've seen, and I think it was once sold under the Revell brand name. It's of good quality, with accurate detail and decals, at 1/650 scale, making it roughly 49 centimetres (19 inches) high.

This model is pretty hard to find, but good model shops may have it, and if not, they can probably order it. You can find it in some stores in Paris, too. It's great for classrooms, cultural displays, or just to have in your house if you really like the Eiffel Tower.

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The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel's engineering and construction firm, Eiffel et Cie. This firm underwent many transformations in the following years, but it still survives today, still under the name Eiffel, and it still specializes in complex steel construction work and engineering.

Note that Eiffel was a very good engineer and undertook a great many interesting projects besides the Eiffel Tower. He designed and built the interior frame of the Statue of Liberty, for example, and the current Eiffel company was the builder of the amazing Viaduc de Millau bridge.