Since 2003, Cultival has been offering guided tours of the Palais Garnier, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the Garde Républicaine and the Eiffel Tower, in small groups of 15. With an almost daily appointment, made possible by the 20 lecturers who know the monuments of Paris like no one else, we learn more about our city and its history.
The tour is a real treat, revealing all the behind-the-scenes details that are inaccessible to the general public, in VIP mode. Right from the start of the tour, we head for a hidden basement under the Champ de Mars, 200 meters from the Eiffel Tower, where the Jules Verne's historic kitchens are located.
We then discoverits bunker, its former military listening area, vestiges of the World Wars. With a fluidity to be commended, our tour guide reveals how the Eiffel Tower was saved after the Universal Exhibition, becoming a place for meteorological research before being used to send radio messages in 1898. It's a real pleasure to discover such an unlikely place, with some quite surprising remains (a long corridor leading to the foundations of the Eiffel Tower, a pillar with the various paintings that covered the Iron Lady).
Our tour guide is very friendly, not hesitating to make a few jokes while leaving us time to take photos. After ten minutes or so, it's off to the Eiffel Tower (and its elevators, mind you) - yes, the elevators, but behind the scenes!
Who could have imagined that the hydraulic mechanism developed in 1899 would still be in operation a century later? After this discovery, the ascent into the cabin is all the more impressive, given that the mechanism is over 100 years old.
On the 2nd floor, the view compels you to stop and simply take in the impressive panorama of Parisian monuments (for Parisians, it's a nice enough review, but a fascinating discovery of the city for provincials and tourists alike). And just when you think you've seen it all, the tour guide surprises you with the story of the Eiffel Tower's... wind turbines, hidden from the public as they are (with the gusts of wind, accidents can happen!).
It's a rare opportunity to discover a building like this. The pace of the tour, which was fairly brisk in its explanations but slow enough to leave us time to take photos, made us want to repeat the experience with Cultival, and that's just as well, because the company also offers behind-the-scenes tours of the Invalides, the Garde Républicaine, the Grand Rex and the Théâtre Mogador.
Practical info :
Cultival's backstage tours of Paris
Prices: from €15 to €35 per person, depending on the tour
Location
Eiffel Tower
5, avenue Anatole-France
75007 Paris 7
Access
Metro and RER: Line 6 or 9 "Trocadéro" station Line 6 "Bir-Hakeim" station RER C "Champ de Mars - Tour Eiffel" station
Prices
la visite guidée: €15 - €35
More information
Daily backstage tours
