My one Eiffel Tower visit was a mixed bag.
Views of the lattice swaying over canals and poking through foliage? Check. Cherubic toddlers singing “Danny Boy” at the base? Unexpected, but check. Merchants peddling Eiffel totems over six feet? A very unfortunate check.
Here’s an opportunity, though, to get an Eiffel Tower souveneir with a little more weight than a €12 chunk of plastic.
Artcurial, a French auction house, recently announced it’s auctioning off a 24-step section of the tower’s original staircase.
What can you expect? 13-feet of powder blue metal and a whole lotta history. Removed in 1983 (because … elevators) the spiral used to connect the Eiffel Tower’s second and third floors, and literally dates back to Gustave Eiffel’s 1889 construction.
Our take: it’s hard to go wrong on a statement piece with an epic backstory. But if you’re shelling out for this staircase (Artcurial is starting the bidding at $45K), go ahead and really make sure your friends know. Otherwise that new “art piece” in your living room just looks like a staricase that’d lead down to the boiler room of a YMCA.
For more information on the auction, head here. (And have Google Translate handy.)
Images from Artcurial
h/t Curbed
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