I went to the offical Eiffel Tower sight and it said they would start painting the tower in Feb 2002 so they could complete it by Dec 2003 - has anyone been to Paris recently and seen them painting?<BR><BR>If so, was it obvious enough that it would ruin a picture of the tower?

I'm not sure if you are asking if one can see the painters in a picture or if the difference between the newly painted and unpainted sections is obvious. I haven't been to Paris since the repainting began, but I would think that the answer to either question is no. I think that a picture that showed the painting taking place would actually be more interesting, but I doubt that such a picture would be easy to get. As for the color, since it is just a refreshing of the present color (Eiffel Tower brown, sort of a bronze color), I doubt you would see any difference in a photo.<BR><BR>BTW, in checking this information on the Eiffel Tower site - http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/ - I came across the note that the Jules Verne restaurant will be closed March 18 to April 20 for renovation. I hope no one here was planning a special lunch or dinner there during that time.

I have painted ze tower many times with no complaints. Just ignore me, I am zat funny looking little man with ze easel & ze bottle of absinthe.

They have just started working up from the bottom. The new color is a shocking lavender. They wanted the tower to fit the image of Gay Paree.

It isn't as if they will erect a scaffolding to do the painting.

oui...the scaffolding is in the form of the arc d triumph so you can get two landmarks in one photo! those thrifty french...less money on film, more left for wine and gread.

xxx,<BR><BR>Is that sort of like the Shocking Lavendar bottoms of Damon Wayans (is it?) Men on Films character?<BR><BR>; )

Ok, to clear up questions, I was asking not about the "painting" or color of the tower, but if the painters themselves would enforce the closing of the tower for a couple of days.

I read about the repainting a couple of months ago (don't remember where) but the good news , if it's true, is that they are going to re-install the sparkle lights that were up for the Millenium celebration. They left them for quite a while, too...we saw them in May '01. (The tower is always lighted at night, of course: these were a special effect that came on for ten minutes at the top of each hour nightly. What a sight! Can anyone confirm that they plan to do this again?

I visited the Eiffel Tower on Feb 16 and there was some scaffolding in the lower part, just under the arches. The tower is painted every seven years. It diddn't seem to affect the visits or the view from the look-out points. I took pics and can e-mail.

Maira,<BR><BR>Thank you so much for your information. When you took shots of the eiffel tower, was the scaffaling very noticable? Did the painters create more conjestion to get up the tower?

Hi Anna. I was in Paris last week, 3/16-19. Yes, they are painting, there is some sheeting wrapped around the base areas to protect them from drips. There were elevators running on both the North and East legs,I doubt ANYTHING would be allowed to interfere with the tourist trade. As for pics, it's tough to get the whole thing in one shot from close up anyway, I think from the distance back you need to be, you might be able work around it. When I was in Siena IT last year, they were restoring the town hall in the picturesque piazza del Campo, and had hung a canvas facade with a picture of the building on the scaffolding, so as not to completely ruin the tourists' photos - nice touch!