It was NOT scheduled to be demolished just after the 1889 Exposition. In an unusual agreement, Eiffel built the tower with financing he arranged, in return for a 20-year concession to operate and recoup his investment. Only then was it subject to demolition.

By the time the twenty years was up, Eiffel had cleverly found ways to prolong its life by making it useful to the French military as a radio tower, by setting it up as an important meteorological research point, and more.

It was quite impressive and beautiful but the surroundings did not quite live up to our expectation. The area around the tower was fenced, filled with tourists (a lot of tourists), and way too many street sellers trying to sell us tower key hangers made in China. On top of that the area in general was quite messy.

All maybe what you can expect from a top attraction in the middle of a major capital. In retrospect we do regret not having bought tickets to get the view of Paris from the tower. Next time we will 🙂