A virtual excursion to the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower hosts around 7 million visitors per year. 85% of them are overseas visitors. Be one of them.
Bienvenue à la tour Eiffel!
Welcome to your virtual tour of the Eiffel Tower. Not only will you get to practise your French, you will also learn about culture, history, architecture, geography and mathematics in the comfort of your own home.
Google Earth - where in the world?
Click on the Google Earth image of the Eiffel Tower . Be patient while it loads :)
Discussion points:
What are some of the natural landmarks that surround the Eiffel Tower?
Why do you think the region of Paris is called Île de France?
How far is the Eiffel Tower from your city?
Are there any other places would you like to visit in Paris?
Où se trouve:
Champs de Mars?
École Militaire?
Carrousel de la Tour Eiffel?
La Place de Varsovie?
Comment s’appelle la tour noire qui fait face à la tour Eiffel ?
Achetez vos billets
Enter and buy your ticket. Watch the video Visiter la tour Eiffel and then click on Tarifs et horaires.
Activity
Click on the Google form Tarifs des billets tour Eiffel. Submit your answers.
L'esplanade
From the Esplanade you can see the strong iron structure of the Eiffel Tower's 4 pillars. It is prettier at night when the lights are on where you can walk from the Place du Trocadéro. Explore the Esplanade and click on the virtual map. You will also find a bust of engineer Gustave Eiffel in bronze.
Activity
Click on the interactive map. In French, provide directions on how to get to École Militaire.
Gustave Eiffel est né le 15 décembre 1832 à Dijon et mort le 27 décembre 1923 à Paris. Il est un ingénieur constructeur spécialisé dans les constructions métalliques et un industriel français, qui a notamment participé à la construction de la tour Eiffel à Paris, du viaduc de Garabit et de la statue de la Liberté à New York.
Le 1er étage
Go up to the first level and discover the view from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Watch the virtual video.
Discussion points:
What do you notice about the structure of the Eiffel Tower?
Why is this floor called the "floating tower?"
What are some of the activities you can do here?
Take a break and have something to eat at La Bulle Parisienne.
Bienvenue sous la Bulle Parisienne du 1er étage
La Bulle Parisienne is a French bistro on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner with a breath taking view of Paris and its iconic monuments.
Activites
Your family member does not read French. Provide a written translation of the menu for them.
Order for yourself and your relative 2 dishes and 2 drinks. Record your answers on Flipgrid and send it to your teacher.
In French, write a review on Tripadvisor of your experience. Don't forget to rate it!
Le 2ème étage
Watch the virtual video and go up to level 2. You will find Restaurant Le Jules Verne who is headed by Frédéric Anton, a 3 Michelin starred chef.
Research ideas:
Who is Jules Verne?
What do Michelin stars mean in a restaurant?
What is la dame de fer?
Restaurant Le Jules Verne
Adapted from "Inside the Eiffel Tower's newly redesigned Jules Verne Restaurant" by Katia Kulawicke-Assante from Architectural Digest.
Eating well on the Dame de Fer, a.k.a. the Iron Lady or Eiffel Tower, is tradition. When it first opened in 1889, there were already 4 restaurants on the first floor, tucked away in wooden pavilions. Three-Michelin-starred chef Frédéric Anton takes the helm of the City of Light’s highest gastronomic destination, soaring 410 feet above the city.
Located on the second floor, with direct access via a private elevator on the south pillar, the Jules Verne Restaurant—named for the celebrated French novelist, poet, and playwright—is entirely refurbished by architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman. Chef Anton wants his cuisine to mirror France’s “culinary excellence,” he says. Anton intends to create a gastronomic experience in the arts décoratifs tradition, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The restaurant’s 3 main spaces comprise pearly white and silvery gray velvet benches. Likewise, delicately brushed French oak tabletops, accented with mother-of-pearl, stand on legs whose design was inspired by Suzanne Belperron’s 1930s jewelry and which are decorated with small bronze candleholders by sculptor Marie Khouri. Surrounded by mirrors in antiqued gold leaf and a luminous sculpted ceiling, elegant overhead lighting fixtures mimic wheels.
Décrivez la vue que vous voyez ?
Quelles couleurs voyez-vous dans cette pièce?
Quelles formes voyez-vous dans cette pièce ?
Le sommet
Well done! You've reached the top of the Eiffel Tower and you're 276 metres from the ground. Enjoy the view! Afterwards, you can visit the secret room.
Chut! C'est la pièce secrète de la dame de fer
Did you know there's a secret room on top of the Eiffel Tower? Gustave Eiffel lived here with his daughter Claire and would welcome his most closest friends including Thomas Edison.
Activities
Research Thomas Edison and create a 1 minute mutimodal presentation of him.
Read the extract of text below from L’appartement de Gustave Eiffel : la pièce secrète de la dame de fer.
L’appartement secret, était l’appartement et bureau personnel d’Eiffel. Il le construisit et l’aménagea peu de temps après la construction de la tour. Il y a accueilli ses amis proches ainsi que d’autres concepteurs et ingénieurs de génies pour de longues discutions. L’appartement servit aussi de laboratoire pour prendre des mesures atmosphériques, mais aussi pour réaliser des expériences physiques et des observations astronomiques. Gustave Eiffel y fit de nombreuses expériences pendant les années qu’il passa dans cet endroit, bien que le laboratoire aujourd’hui ne soit plus réellement utilisé.
Il faut savoir que pendant plusieurs années, Gustave Eiffel garda l’existence de cet antre secrète et lorsque son existence fut découverte, tout Paris et ses visiteurs cherchèrent à y entrer. Cependant, l’entrée de cette pièce était interdite au grand public. De nos jours — conformément au souhait de son créateur — il est uniquement possible de voir l’intérieur depuis une fenêtre se trouvant sur l’un des côtés de l’appartement.
Imagine you are Claire, write a diary entry in French of one of your experiences living in the summit of the Eiffel Tower. Be imaginative!
An 1889 model of the Eiffel Tower painted originally in "red-brown" colour.
Wax models of Eiffel and Edison with Eiffel's daughter Claire in the background. The gramophone was a gift given to Eiffel by Edison.
Un peu d'histoire
La tour Eiffel a été construite par Gustave Eiffel à l’occasion de l’Exposition Universelle de 1889 qui célébrait le premier centenaire de la Révolution française. Sa construction en 2 ans, 2 mois et 5 jours, fut une véritable performance technique et architecturale. Elle connut immédiatement un immense succès.
Erigée pour seulement 20 ans, elle fut sauvée par les expériences scientifiques qu’Eiffel favorisa et en particulier les premières transmissions radiographiques, puis de télécommunication : signaux radio de la Tour au panthéon en 1898, poste radio militaire en 1903, première émission de radio publique en 1925, puis la télévision jusqu’à la TNT plus récemment.
Les faits intéressants sur la tour Eiffel
Watch the Eiffel Tower video and Read 15 choses essentielles à savoir sur la tour Eiffel and answer the following questions on the Google Form Les faits sur la tour Eiffel.
Want to know more?
Here are some other resources that you may like:
La tour Eiffel a des ailes - Histoire pour enfants - Dokéo TV
A video tutorial in French on how to draw the Eiffel Tower.