126th Anniversary of Eiffel Tower Opening

Today marks the 126th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower; it opened to the public on March 31, 1889. Built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair), it was initially criticized by for its design and mocked as "a truly tragic street lamp." Now, it has become the most visited paid monument in the world with almost 7 million annual visitors. The tower had received 250 million visitor by 2010, 75% of them were from overseas.

At 324 meters or 1,063 feet, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world. It held the title for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. In comparison, the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas stands at 350.2 meters or 1,149 ft; Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino has a half scale, 165-meter or 541-foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Google has featured an Eiffel Tower Doodle by artist Floriane Marchix on its web page to commemorate the 126th anniversary of the tower's public opening.

Postcard FR-430903 from France shows a view of Paris from Tour Montparnasse with the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars on the left side, and Les Invalides on the lower right.

Shit Happens

Postcard US-3135200 to China was from a colleague of mine who bought it during a trip to Germany, showing one of the many great comics from Ruthe.de.

A lot of things have gone wrong recently. For three days, Paris was under siege as terrorists killed satirical comic magazine editors and took hostages. AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea before the New Year, and the elusive black boxes still have not been recovered after two-week intensive searches. SpaceX rocket's booster landing was unsuccessful after launching the Space Station supply ship.

Shit Happens. However, we can not let those setbacks to hold us down. The Paris attacks have brought out one million people marching in unity, and stirred up debates about freedom of speech, religions, national identity and security. The investigations on the causes of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 accident and SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's first stage landing failure will certainly contribute to a safer air travel and the advances of reusable rocket technology.

Montmartre

Postcard FR-446497 from France shows Montmartre, a 130-meter-tall hill in the north of Paris, France. It is known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. The ancient Romans had referred the site as Mount Mercury in the 8th century, and Mount Mars in the 9th century. Saint Denis, a Christian bishop, was decapitated on the hilltop in 250 AD for preaching the Christian faith. The hill was named Mountain of the Martyr to commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Denis.

Many artists had set up studios or shops in or around Montmartre, including Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh.

Now Montmartre is also know as a nightclub district with vibrant nightlife.

Love Locks and the Pont des Arts

Postcard SG-157009 from Singapore shows a loving couple at the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge which crosses the River Seine in Paris, France. It was first built between 1802 and 1804, under the reign of Napoleon I, at the present location as the first metal bridge in Paris. Listed as a National Historic Monument on March 17, 1975, the Pont des Arts is also part of the World Heritage Site "Banks of the Seine" in Paris, recognized by UNESCO in 1991.

The bridge has been known for those love locks attached to the railing since 2008. Couples engrave their names on the padlocks and throw the keys into the Seine river after locking them in place as a gesture of committed love. However, as the number of locks became overwhelming, city officials in Paris started to remove some lock-laden railings and replace them with special glass panels in September, 2014. The Mayor's Office in Paris launched a #lovewithoutlocks campaign to encourage people to take "selfies" instead of leaving love locks.

Moulin Rouge

Postcard FR-420722 from France shows Moulin Rouge, meaning Red Mill in French, a cabaret co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller in Paris, France in 1889.

Marked by the red windmill on its roof, Moulin Rouge is best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance. According to Wikepedia, "originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe. Today, the Moulin Rouge is a tourist attraction, offering musical dance entertainment for visitors from around the world. The club's decor still contains much of the romance of fin de siècle France."

It inspired Moulin Rouge!, a 2001 musical film,  that was nominated for eight and eventually won two Oscars at the 74th Academy Awards on March 24, 2002. A music video featuring 1974 "Lady Marmalade" that was used as part of a medley in the movie, was produced in March 2001 with Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink performing. The video won the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for "Best Video of the Year" and "Best Video from a Film" and a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".  The video reached 100,977,923 views on Vevo/Youtube by the end of today.

In Las Vegas, there was the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino located in the West Las Vegas neighborhood where the African Americans were forced to live. It first opened on May 24, 1955, with multiple references to Paris: Eiffel Tower appeared on the sign at the entrance, and on the casino chips; a French Chef was the head of the largest restaurant in the casino; security guards were dressed in the uniform of the French Foreign Legion.

The hotel and casino was the first integrated hotel casino in the United States while other casinos on the Las Vegas Strip were still segregated and off ff limits to blacks unless they were the entertainers or labors. The Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino closed in November, 1955. Its short but vibrant life fueled the civil-rights movement in Las Vegas. It was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The shuttered hotel suffered a series of fires between May 29, 2003 and May 6, 2009. The Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission approved demolition of the remains of the buildings in June, 2010,

Bikini in the Sin City

The modern bikini was introduced by French designer Louis Réard in Paris today six-eight years ago. On July 5, 1946, Louis Réard unveiled a bold two-piece swimming suit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris, with the help of Parisian exotic dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. The name of "bikini" was from the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where a U.S. atomic bomb was tested earlier that week. Many western countries declared it illegal and the Vatican declared it sinful.

Bikini did not become popular until the early 1960s. However, its popularity has been growing ever since. In Las Vegas, you can find numerous bikini related contests and activities, such as the SpyOnVegas Hot100 contest at the Wet Republic at MGM Grand, IFBB Legends Pro Bikini, and Bikini Bike Wash at the Las Vegas BikeFest.

The postcard was a cut out from a greeting card purchased at a local casino gift shop.

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Outgoing postcard US-2461326 to Finland celebrates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty which occurs on October 17 every year. It was first commemorated in Paris, France in 1987 with 100,000 people gathering on the Human Rights and Liberties Plaza at the Trocadéro, site of the Palais de Chaillot, to honor victims of poverty, hunger, violence and fear. The organizer for that event was Joseph Wresinski, founder of the International Movement ATD (All Together for Dignity) Fourth World, a nonprofit organization which aims towards the eradication of chronic poverty through a human-rights based approach.

The Commemorative Stone. source: tapori.org

A commemorative stone placed on that date reads: "Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty." – Joseph Wresinski

In the Hierarchy of Needs proposed by Abraham Maslow, Maslow described the pattern that human motivations generally move through under the Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence needs. It is obvious that Poverty is the most crucial limiting factor of the creativity for the people who could not meet their basic needs. To eradicate poverty is the first step to help those people to realize their full potential.  

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Source: Wikipedia

The Dreamers (2003)

The Dreamers (2003)

I am sending this movie advertising card US-2334372 that I got in 2004 to France. Coincidentally, "the Dreamers" was an American movie about a Californian student Matthew in Paris developing a friendship with a twin French brother Theo and sister Isabelle, with the 1968 Paris student riots "May Revolution" in the background.

The movie has a MPAA Rating of NC-17. You can purchase a copy of DVD from Amazon. Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Leonardo DiCaprio were initially considered for the role of Matthew but both turned it down because Jack's was concerned about the explicit nature of the nude scenes and Leonardo was in pre-production with "the Aviator".

Eiffel Tower, and the Replicas

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

I have been sending off quite a few Eiffel Tower postcards since I joined the PostCrossing, although they were of the replica in front of Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Naturally, I was quite excited when I received a postcard (FR-287501) of the Eiffel Tower from Paris, France yesterday.

Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Coincidentally, France celebrates its first gay marriage yesterday, becoming the 14th country to legalize gay marriage,  after President François Hollande signed the country’s “Marriage for All” act into law on May 18, 2013.

More coincidentally, when Paris Hotel's owner Harrah's focused on marketing its properties to specific segments of the population to counter the 2008-2009 economic downturn, Paris was being marketed heavily towards gay and lesbian travelers, according to a Las Vegas Review Journal article "Executive Wants To Ensure Hotel Guests Get Social Cachet For Their Cash" posted on February 22, 2009.

In the United States, only Washington, D.C., and 12 states have legalized same-sex marriage. If we are proud that we have at least 10 Eiffel Tower replicas in the United States, will we be prouder when some day the same-sex marriage is recognized in all 50 states in the United States, following France's lead?

Here are a few more postcards of the Las Vegas Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas Hotel:

US-2209904

Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas Hotel under a Full Moon

You can find postcards of the Las Vegas Eiffel Tower from many gift shops in Las Vegas. You can purchase a copy of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas under a Full Moon from Zazzle.com.

If you have a postcard or a photo of the Eiffel Tower or one of the replicas around the world, can you send me a copy? I will return a postcard to you from Las Vegas and feature your card here.

Eiffel Tower replicas in the US:

• Eiffel Tower, Kings Island Amusement Park, Mason, Ohio, 101 m  (332 ft), 1:3 scale
• Eiffel Tower, Kings Dominion Amusement Park, Doswell, Virginia, 101 m (332 ft), 1:3 scale
• Bordeaux Tower, Fayetteville, North Carolina, 45 m (148 ft), 1:6 scale
• Eiffel Tower. EPCOT, Disney World, Orlando, Florida, 23 m (76 ft), 1:14 scale
• Paris-Texas Eiffel Tower,  Paris, Texas, 20 m (66 ft), 1:16 scale
• Paris-Tennessee Eiffel Tower, Paris, Tennessee.  18 m (60 ft), 1:20 scale
• Meccano model, SciTrek Technology Museum, Atlanta, Georgia, 11 m (36 ft)
• Dreyfus Eiffel Tower, Austin, Texas, 7.5 m (25 ft), 1:45 scale
• Paris-Michigan Eiffel Tower, Paris, Michigan, 3 m (10 ft), 1:110 scale