For centuries, the capital of France has been considered a real treasure of a nation with centuries-old culture and incredible charm. Every year, it is visited by millions of tourists who want to get to know the most amazing places. If you ask the townspeople to tell you about the most interesting facts about Paris, you can hear many inspiring stories about fashion, wonderful cuisine and the Arc de Triomphe. But there are more fascinating details that are not written in guidebooks.
Eiffel Tower and unusual data about it
A significant part of tourists visiting Paris, from the first day of their stay in the city, is trying to look at the most recognizable architectural landmark - the Eiffel Tower. Every year, about 7 million people want to go up to it, and in order to provide each visitor with an entrance ticket, the authorities have to use at least 2 tons of paper. Sometimes the main symbol of France is visited by up to 30 thousand people a day.
What guides will not tell you about:
- The weight of the Eiffel Tower is 10 thousand tons, and the height is 325 meters. At the same time, the entire structure is assembled from 18 thousand elements fastened together by 2.5 million rivets.
- For cleaning the tower you need 25 thousand garbage bags per year and hundreds of liters of detergents.
- The main attraction is painted every 7 years. To do this, workers clean the old coating from the surface, treat it with corrosion protection, and then apply 60 tons of paint. It costs the budget about 4 million euros.
- Every year, the symbol of the capital of France is deformed - under the influence of the sun, the steel frame of the tower expands, and its top deviates to the side by 18 cm.
- The planned dismantling of the Eiffel Tower was supposed to take place 20 years after its construction, but the design was useful for installing antennas in the era of the radio.
But if, after returning from a trip, you want to clearly demonstrate to your friends interesting facts about Paris and France, the photo of the night Eiffel Tower should not be uploaded to the network, since its lights are protected by copyright, and such actions are considered a violation of the law.
Street signs
Walking along city structures, very often you will notice several signboards with names that are located directly one above the other. It turns out that earlier officials could not agree on the height at which the signs should be placed, so new signs appeared on the walls of buildings, while the old ones remained in their original places. Also, many old-timers, mentioning interesting facts about Paris, say that under modern metal signs there are street names carved in stone - they were left after the revolution.
Transport in the capital of France
Visiting France, tourists are impressed not only by the Eiffel Tower, the unique architecture of Paris, delicious dishes and fashionable shops. Surprising for them is the trip on the usual form of transport for all. It turns out that a self-service system is operating in the metro system - you will not be able to see employees at the turnstiles or hear station announcements. In addition, you will have to close and open the doors in the cars yourself.
The following interesting facts about Paris may also surprise:
- more and more bicycles are appearing in the city - today up to a thousand kilometers of bike paths are equipped on its territory, and the air previously polluted by cars is becoming cleaner;
- the capital's underground transport system is one of the oldest in all of Europe, and annually it carries about 1.5 billion passengers; Paris metro is the 6th largest congestion in the world.
Surprisingly, in the city of love, there is only one stop sign.
Another symbol of France
Of course, in the guidebooks some of the most interesting facts about Paris and photos are printed, but only once in this city, you can see passers-by who wear a baguette under their arm. It turns out that this is another symbol of France, and this method of carrying is an old tradition. The most popular French bakery products are called Croque-Madame and Croque-Monsieur, which are fried slices with butter and filling. They are sold in almost every store.
Paris for entertainment lovers
Also interesting facts about Paris relate to the cultural part of the city. So, on its territory there are 84 cinemas (367 halls), where you can watch one of the 500 films. Each year, the capital’s opera hosts more than 300 performances, and 208 theaters are able to accommodate 70 thousand people. In addition, the city has 8 thousand cafes with terraces, and local residents recommend sitting at tables on the street not because smoking is prohibited in the premises. It turns out that only in this way can the waiters be more efficient and faster to bring the bill. Parisians, as well as experienced travelers, know: employees of institutions are worried that customers do not leave, leaving their order unpaid.
Many interesting photo facts about Paris are full of buildings with ancient architecture and unusual sculptures. But metropolitan restaurants are as important an attraction as historical monuments, and their names are very often found on the pages of world magazines.
Where did the famous expressions about Paris come from
Often in literary sources and in conversation there is the phrase “flew like plywood over Paris,” and its appearance is most likely associated with the film “Ballooner,” in which circus artist Ivan Zaikin, who decided to become an aviator, goes to the capital of France. In one of the episodes, he rises into the sky on an airplane from plywood, but his aircraft still crashes.
As previously mentioned, the construction of a nail-like Eiffel tower was timed to coincide with the world exhibition held in 1889, and the design made a splash. Since then, the expression "the highlight of the program."
A trip to the most romantic place in Western Europe will allow every tourist to learn new interesting facts about Paris, get acquainted with ancient traditions and customs, and also admire simple but unexpected little things.