("Rick Steve's Best of Europe 2005")

[fiefoe]

In hot weather, the Eiffel Tower is six inches taller. Its 7000 tons of metal are spread out so well at the base that it's no heavier per square inch than a linebacker on tiptoes.

Here, in 1871, the citizens took the streets from the government troops, set up barricades Les Miz-style, and established the Paris Commune. During World War II, the locals rose up against their Nazi opressors (read the plaques by St. Michel fountain).

Catherine de Medicis wanted a place to drive her carriage, so she started draining the swamp that would become the avenue de Champs-Elysees.

The massive foundations straddle an underground lake (creating the mysterious world of the Phantom of the Opera).