Eiffel Tower reopens with message of defiance
The Eiffel Tower, closed since Friday's terrorist attacks, reopened to the public Monday afternoon and will be lit up in the colours of the French flag for three nights.
France's most famous monument began welcoming visitors again on Monday at 4:20pm after it was closed throughout the weekend.
The tower's operations organization announced that the structure would be illuminated in the French tricolour, red, white and blue, from dusk till 1am on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
In addition, the city's motto 'fluctuat nec megritur' will be projected onto the tower. The motto translates literally as 'tossed but not sunk', but is usually rendered as 'it is beaten by the waves but does not sink' - a message which seems particularly appropriate as the city struggles to make sense of Friday's horrific attacks.
Buildings and monuments in cities around the world were illuminated in the colours of the French flag over the weekend, in a display of solidarity with victims of the attacks which killed 129 people of 19 nationalities.
Additional security measures and police officers are in place at the tower.
The Eiffel Tower is usually visited by up to 20,000 people each day. Its lights were switched off on Friday night after the news of the attacks, and it has stayed closed as a state of emergency was proclaimed across France.
The lights were turned back on Sunday evening, but the usual twinkling which occurs for five minutes at each hour has not yet been restarted. "It didn't seem appropriate to us," Isabelle Esnous, Director of Communication at the tower, told AFP.
France's museums and concert halls were permitted to open their doors from 1pm on Monday, Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin announced.
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France's most famous monument began welcoming visitors again on Monday at 4:20pm after it was closed throughout the weekend.
The tower's operations organization announced that the structure would be illuminated in the French tricolour, red, white and blue, from dusk till 1am on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
In addition, the city's motto 'fluctuat nec megritur' will be projected onto the tower. The motto translates literally as 'tossed but not sunk', but is usually rendered as 'it is beaten by the waves but does not sink' - a message which seems particularly appropriate as the city struggles to make sense of Friday's horrific attacks.
Buildings and monuments in cities around the world were illuminated in the colours of the French flag over the weekend, in a display of solidarity with victims of the attacks which killed 129 people of 19 nationalities.
Additional security measures and police officers are in place at the tower.
The Eiffel Tower is usually visited by up to 20,000 people each day. Its lights were switched off on Friday night after the news of the attacks, and it has stayed closed as a state of emergency was proclaimed across France.
The lights were turned back on Sunday evening, but the usual twinkling which occurs for five minutes at each hour has not yet been restarted. "It didn't seem appropriate to us," Isabelle Esnous, Director of Communication at the tower, told AFP.
France's museums and concert halls were permitted to open their doors from 1pm on Monday, Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin announced.
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