Did You Know About The Eiffel Tower Secret Apartment?

A company similiar to what AirBnB does, called HomeAway, ran a contest to "rent out" the the Eiffel Tower during the Euro 2016 tournament. They basically turned the second level into an apartment. But did you know there is another apartment in the Eiffel Tower? A secret apartment. And this one is not temporary. It's always been there.

But the only person that had access to the apartment was Gustav Eiffel, the architect whose company designed and built the landmark. Built in the late 1880s, the Eiffel Tower and was originally intended to be the centerpiece of the 1889 World’s Fair. For a man who mainly built bridges, this tower brought fame. But most interesting, he also built himself a secret, private home towards the top of the tower, that few knew about.

Eiffel used it as a personal getaway and  as a place to perform meteorological experiments, some say. One guest that Gustave had was Thomas Edison. Edison was so appreciative of the invite,  he gave Eiffel one of his newest inventions at the time. A phonograph.

Gustave Eiffel was “the object of general envy” among Parisians during his lifetime, and it wasn’t for designing one of the most famous monuments of all time. Rather, it was due to the fact that he had a private apartment at the top of the tower—and almost no one else was allowed access to it.

In his book La Tour Eiffel de Trois Cent Métres (The Eiffel Tower of 300 Meters), author Henri Girard explains that Parisians would offer up “a small fortune” to rent the space for a single night, but Eiffel consistently refused. However, he would occasionally entertain guests of the utmost prestige (Thomas Edison is one notable example).

Unlike the scientific marvel of steel and hard lines it’s housed in, the pied à terre is cozy and romantic—think paisley wallpaper, wood furniture, and oil paintings. All in all, not a shabby place to view Paris from the best vantage point in town.

While Eiffel Tower visitors were previously denied access to the apartment (what Monsieur Eiffel would have wanted, no doubt), it was announced today that it the 1,000-foot-high space is officially open to the public. At long last, we mere peasants can get a look at what it’s like to live at the world’s most enviable address.

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Curated from There Is a Secret Apartment at the Top of the Eiffel Tower - Conde Nast Traveler

British Home vs American Homes

Politics in the USA is making some people on both the left and right threaten to leave if the other person gets elected. OK. Don't forget we can help you sell your house.

Also, things are a bit different in other countries. Just an FYI.

For example...

Wherever you may go around the world, it’s easy to conclude that if a home has four walls and a ceiling, everything else must be broadly the same. Well, even if that were true (and it’s not) there are still tiny differences between a house on the other side of the world and the house you normally live in that can be quite unsettling the first time you encounter them.

So, having conducted extensive research into American and British households (by comparing notes between the traveling experiences of Anglophenia writers) what are the things that are commonly recognizable to most British households that will come as a surprise to most American visitors?

To avoid getting stung by unexpected bills for gas and electricity, some British households use a system whereby they go to a local shop and have credit placed on an electronic tag called a PayPoint key. Just as a pay-as-you-go phone gives you a set amount of credit to make and receive calls, so the PayPoint key gives you a certain amount of gas, electricity or even water. This is just a modern update on the old system which relied upon putting coins in a meter.

Due to a healthy fear of electrocution, British bathrooms don’t tend to be wired up for electricity, as it does not play nicely with water. The noble exception to this rule is the two-pin electric shaver socket, which can either be wall-mounted or part of the light over a mirror. Some bathrooms don’t even have the light switch in the room: It’s out in the hall or landing, just by the door. It’s worth checking this before you find yourself feeling a wall in the middle of the night while busting for a pee.

This is worth getting right before you’re in too much of a hurry. Should you need to use the conveniences, ask for a bathroom and you may be directed to a room with a bath in it, but no toilet. The Brits are terribly literal like that. By all means, ask if you can use the toilet, or the lavatory, or the loo, and they will immediately direct you to the nearest room in which you can do your business.

Curated from 10 Things About a British Home That Will Confuse Americans | Anglophenia | BBC America

The Lightbox House

Check out the pictures of this cool home.

The Lightbox house is located next to a 180-acre park overlooking the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. The park is a grand amenity of this home, as the photographer and his family can explore deep into the woods adjacent to their property. With the ocean just a short hike away, a range of photographic subjects are immediately accessible to the home’s owner.

Read the full article at: Lightbox House: A Photographer's Dream House in Seattle