A Living History Lesson at the Eiffel Tower

Her grandparents wanted to make Emily’s birthday something really special. So this little girl from the United States came to Paris for a week – and we helped make it a week she would never forget, with the Eiffel Tower as the star of the show.

The fully choreographed experience started with lunch at the Tower’s gastronomic restaurant, the Jules Verne, with views over the Champ-de-Mars, Quai Branly andTrocadéro. Afterwards, we met our guests along with our expert storyteller, who gave a history of the monument custom-made for Emily: full of fun facts, the story of how it became so iconic, and the backstory of the hero, Gustave Eiffel.

We mounted to the top of the Tower, where – surprise! – we found Monsieur Eiffel himself. Fully costumed in the height of 1880s fashion and with the bearing of the great architect, Gustave held our little guest enthralled with the story of how he came up with the idea for the Tower, and what he really thinks about its copycats in Shanghai and Las Vegas.

Gustave explained to Emily how the tower is painted. It has its own special shade of bronze (called “Eiffel Tower brown),which comes in three shades – darker at the base and lighter as it goes up, to give a visual impression of uniformity as it stands against the Paris sky.

 “If it was up to you, what colour would you paint it?” he asked her.

 “Pink!” was her immediate reply. And you could see the delight spread over her face as Gustave Eiffel explained to her that back when he built it, the Tower was painted red (“Venice red” to beprecise). A sense of wonder as history, as it is in her imagination, had come to life before her eyes.

 At Secret Journeys we are creators of experiences and makers of memories. We’re constantly working with our collaborators to develop new concepts and new performances. Whatever your desire or passion, ­­­we can curate the bespoke event or visit of your dreams.

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