Eiffel Tower

Great piece from Giles Milton, at his blog Surviving History, on Edward Watkin -- an enterprising Englishman who set out to build a British competitor to the Eiffel Tower. Watkin, a railway magnate, was determined to open a tower which was taller than Eiffel's, and to make his fortune selling railway tickets to tourists. He galvanized the public with a rallying cry -- " Anything Paris can do, London can do better !": By the end of 1889, architects from across the world were working on designs for a tower that would be taller and more spectacular than Eiffel's.

Fenway Park will again participate in the worldwide "Light it up Blue" movement Monday night to raise awareness for autism. Landmarks around the world will use blue lighting as part of World Autism Awareness Day. According to a Red Sox press release, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Tower in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia are among the places that will participate. Fenway Park's facade near Gate A on Yawkey Way will have blue lighting.

PARIS -- The weather was nippy and overcast and the water just chest-high, but a new scuba-diving pool in Paris has something Bali, Belize, and other diving hotspots don't: a terrific view of the Eiffel Tower. To promote the sport, scuba instructors began offering free lessons yesterday -- with wet suits, scuba gear, and even a biodegradable towel -- at the foot of the French landmark. "Through the water you can see the monument. It's magnificent," said New Zealand tourist Adrian Carter, one of the first to try it. He and a group of friends had planned to go up the 1,063-foot-high Eiffel...

Great piece from Giles Milton, at his blog Surviving History, on Edward Watkin -- an enterprising Englishman who set out to build a British competitor to the Eiffel Tower. Watkin, a railway magnate, was determined to open a tower which was taller than Eiffel's, and to make his fortune selling railway tickets to tourists. He galvanized the public with a rallying cry -- " Anything Paris can do, London can do better !": By the end of 1889, architects from across the world were working on designs for a tower that would be taller and more spectacular than Eiffel's.

PARIS — French police have struck a blow to a black market trade that has long flourished in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: informal peddling of miniature replica towers. Police detained 39 people in breaking up a Chinese-run ring of illegal immigrants from Senegal accused of selling unauthorized Eiffel Tower souvenirs, a spokeswoman for the Paris police headquarters said yesterday. Several vendors were arrested at or near the tower itself in the raids this week, while their Chinese employers were detained in offices used for storing the merchandise, the spokeswoman said.

PARIS -- Holiday on ice takes on new meaning high above the rooftops of Paris doing figure eights inside the Eiffel Tower. During the 115 years of the Eiffel Tower's existence, it has added refreshment stands, trinket shops, and fancy restaurants -- but nothing quite matches the skating rink in the sky that opened to the public yesterday. On an observation deck 188 feet above ground, the ice rink adds a new dimension to the breathtaking views from the French capital's best-known landmark.

PARIS - The Eiffel Tower, host to nearly 7 million visitors per year, is about to get a $267 million makeover to upgrade the monument for the 21st century. The 10-year plan was unveiled yesterday. The last time the tower underwent something similar was a generation ago, in the early 1980s, when the focus was on increasing the number of visitors, then about 3 million. "Year after year, we have put a lot of energy and pride into announcing new records," said Jean-Bernard Bros, president of SETE, the company that manages the city-owned tower.

PARIS -- Holiday on ice takes on new meaning high above the rooftops of Paris doing figure eights inside the Eiffel Tower. During the 115 years of the Eiffel Tower's existence, it has added refreshment stands, trinket shops, and fancy restaurants -- but nothing quite matches the skating rink in the sky that opened to the public yesterday. On an observation deck 188 feet above ground, the ice rink adds a new dimension to the breathtaking views from the French capital's best-known landmark.

Fenway Park will again participate in the worldwide "Light it up Blue" movement Monday night to raise awareness for autism. Landmarks around the world will use blue lighting as part of World Autism Awareness Day. According to a Red Sox press release, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Tower in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia are among the places that will participate. Fenway Park's facade near Gate A on Yawkey Way will have blue lighting.

The World Expo is gearing up for its 2015 installment in Milan with China the latest country signing on to participate. Shanghai hosted the 2010 edition of the World Expo, drawing a record 72 million visitors during its six-month run, almost all of them Chinese tourists. The Chinese trade council said in a letter Friday to the Milan organizers that it hoped to contribute to the 2015 theme: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. " The first Great Exhibition was held in London in 1851 to mark the coming of the Industrial Revolution; the Eiffel Tower was built for...

Paris police say they have seized nearly 300 tons of contraband souvenirs — mostly miniature Eiffel Towers — in a crackdown targeting illegal vendors of such trinkets in tourist areas. Police on Thursday announced the arrest of four Chinese citizens who operated a shop in central Paris that supplied souvenirs to street vendors who fan out daily across the capital without being registered with the city, as required. A subsequent raid in a warehouse north of Paris turned up more than 20,000 boxes — nearly all of them containing "Made in China" Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

The World Expo is gearing up for its 2015 installment in Milan with China the latest country signing on to participate. Shanghai hosted the 2010 edition of the World Expo, drawing a record 72 million visitors during its six-month run, almost all of them Chinese tourists. The Chinese trade council said in a letter Friday to the Milan organizers that it hoped to contribute to the 2015 theme: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. " The first Great Exhibition was held in London in 1851 to mark the coming of the Industrial Revolution; the Eiffel Tower was built...

PARIS — Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from Al Qaeda against Europe, particularly in France, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said yesterday. He said the warning of a potential attack by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was received “in the last few hours, few days.’’ European officials were informed that “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active’’ on the “European continent, notably France,’’ Hortefeux said during a TV and radio interview.

PARIS — French police have struck a blow to a black market trade that has long flourished in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: informal peddling of miniature replica towers. Police detained 39 people in breaking up a Chinese-run ring of illegal immigrants from Senegal accused of selling unauthorized Eiffel Tower souvenirs, a spokeswoman for the Paris police headquarters said yesterday. Several vendors were arrested at or near the tower itself in the raids this week, while their Chinese employers were detained in offices used for storing the merchandise, the spokeswoman...

Local Rock The Vivs Mouth To Mouth Self-released ESSENTIAL “(You Should Have Seen) the Other Guy’’ The Vivs perform at Church on Friday. Tickets are $10 at the door. This may be a debut album, but the Vivs are well-connected to Boston’s rock ’n’ roll family tree. Singer Karen Harris fronted Edith, and keyboard player and harmony vocalist Terri Brosius played with Tribe. Eric Brosius, Terri’s husband and Tribe mate, produced the album and supplied some extra guitar.

PARIS -- Jacques Dutronc’s classic and controversial 1967 song “Il est cinq heures Paris s’éveille’’ is a set of snapshots of Paris between night and day - everything from the Eiffel Tower’s chilly feet to bakers making loaves called “bâtards’’ - a thousand quirky details that define the singer’s city. Tighter times are a perfect moment to shift away from the glamour and well-worn paths and more toward the individual events that define the City of Light for its inhabitants.

The Woman Who Married the Eiffel Tower 9 p.m., BBC America TLC is freak-show central, what with "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" and "Toddlers & Tiaras. " But BBC America traffics in crazy stuff, too, as evidenced by tonight's look at "objectum sexuals," people who fall in love with inanimate objects. The hour profiles Erika La Tour, a former US Army soldier who tied the knot with the Eiffel Tower. Actually, it's Erika La Tour Eiffel; she took her husband's name. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 9 p.m., Channel 4 Last week's episode was the 200th, and it was beautifully directed by William Friedkin.

CHELSEA - Can a young man limited to speaking one word a day express his feelings to his beloved? What happens when a man rejects a bride because she has only two noses? And just what is going on with that wedding photographer’s camera on the Eiffel Tower? A trio of amusing absurdist one-act plays is showing at the Apollinaire Theater’s seventh annual summer offering of free bilingual theater in Chelsea’s Mary O’Malley Park. With the Tobin Bridge and the Mystic River providing an evocative backdrop, simple family dynamics unfold in outrageous ways in Jean Anouilh’s...

CHELSEA - Can a young man limited to speaking one word a day express his feelings to his beloved? What happens when a man rejects a bride because she has only two noses? And just what is going on with that wedding photographer’s camera on the Eiffel Tower? A trio of amusing absurdist one-act plays is showing at the Apollinaire Theater’s seventh annual summer offering of free bilingual theater in Chelsea’s Mary O’Malley Park. With the Tobin Bridge and the Mystic River providing an evocative backdrop, simple family dynamics unfold in outrageous ways in Jean Anouilh’s “Humulus the Mute,’’...

The Woman Who Married the Eiffel Tower 9 p.m., BBC America TLC is freak-show central, what with "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" and "Toddlers & Tiaras. " But BBC America traffics in crazy stuff, too, as evidenced by tonight's look at "objectum sexuals," people who fall in love with inanimate objects. The hour profiles Erika La Tour, a former US Army soldier who tied the knot with the Eiffel Tower. Actually, it's Erika La Tour Eiffel; she took her husband's name. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 9 p.m., Channel 4 Last week's episode was the 200th, and it was beautifully...