MATT RADIO

December 3, 2007

The Eiffel Tower and Rue de la Huchette

Matt, Dana, Claudia and Brian drink and eat in the Latin Quarter before scaling the Paris icon.

Matt absorbs the top-of-the-hour Eiffel Tower light show.

(Click to view larger version of any of the photos below.)



This dude got swamped by pigeons just west of Notre Dame.	4, rue de la Huchette: George's Cafe. “Cocktails and dreams”: What more do you need?	Rue de la Huchette is the coolest street we've found in Paris... so far.

Claudia models a blouse at the “So Cute” shop.	Chloe brings the drinks and the sparkle at George's Cafe.	Dana and her mojito

Claudia & Brian and his margarita	Dana, Chloe, Claudia	down the candlelit stairs to George's Cafe's restrooms

You can tile we were a little buzzed at George's Cafe.		Claudia

Brian and our waiter at Akropolis. (Watch the videos at the bottom of this gallery.)	Claudia, Matt, and Dana...	...in a subway car all to ourselves, headed toward the Eiffel Tower.

Claudia, Brian, Dana	The Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris.	Dana & Matt

Claudia & Brian	It's the fifth tallest structure in all of France.

The golden night lighting has adorned the Tower since December 31, 1985.	The Tower lights up every evening from sunset to 1:00am (2:00am during the three months of summer).	It is composed of 335 spotlights placed so as to highlight the structure of the monument.

Glittering lights arrived in celebration of the new millennium, December 31, 1999.	The ten minute show of glittering lights occurs at the top of each hour.	Dana

Dana basks in the glow of 20,000 glimmering light bulbs.

Claudia		Dana is alight with enthusiasm.

Matt & Dana	The Tower is the most popular pay-to-visit monument in the world.	Over 6.7 million visitors scaled the Tower in 2006 alone.

The Tower is 325 meters high.	When completed in 1889, the Tower replaced the Washington Monument as the world's tallest tower...	...a title it retained until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler Building was completed.

The Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons.		The structure sways in the wind up to 7 centimeters.

That's the Trocadero at the bottom center.	A bridge over the River Seine, as seen from on high.	Feel that French winter wind chill!

a tighter shot of the Trocadero and La Defense	Matt & Claudia	The gusts are so powerful outside on the top level...

...You have to literally hold onto your hat!	As his father would say, Matt is as happy as if he had good sense.	Brian and wind-swept Claudia

Brian	La Grande Roue. Translation: “big-ass ferris wheel.”	That's the Arc de Triomphe dead center behind Claudia.



Up here, you huddle together for warmth.	the Arc de Triomphe	You can stand outside on the Tower at the first level, the second level, or all the way at the top.

coming off the down elevator		Les Invalides, seen from the second level of the Eiffel Tower





	18,038 pieces of puddled iron form the Eiffel Tower.	It's held together with 2.5 million rivets.

For 100 years the Tower has been used for radio transmission.

	When the Nazis took over Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French....	...so that Hitler would have to climb all the steps if he wanted to reach the summit.

	Dana climbs down the steps from level two to level one.

Any dummy can change a light bulb.



	Dana saw this street from level one of the Tower and wanted to find it on foot.	She loved the red Christmas tree-shaped lights.



Brian & Claudia at Le Relais Gascon in Montmartre	a bar just down the street from Le Relais Gascon	Brian notices a canine customer.

Those Parisians love their small dogs!	Dana and dozing bulldog