InvestigationSecurity breaches, financial mismanagement, lack of oversight, erratic governance: Serious failings within the company that operates the monument have come to light, putting the 'Iron Lady' herself – as well as employees and visitors – at risk.
At the Eiffel Tower, there is a tradition of praying to the guardian angel named "Gustave," who secretly watches over the monument. Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), 103 years after his death, still works small miracles to protect his most famous creation, those who keep it running, and those who come to admire it. On Friday, January 9, at 2:20 am, Storm Goretti unleashed fierce winds that tore off the metal cladding of a guardrail, sending debris into the Champ-de-Mars basin below. Fortunately, it was nighttime, the weather was cold, and the gardens were deserted. No one was hurt.
There is another tradition, too: The Eiffel Tower's reception staff never cross diagonally between the tower's four pillars. Previous gusts of wind had knocked down a giant television screen, and there have been countless instances of tools, nuts and bolts falling to ground during the almost constant maintenance work on the structure. So far, there has never been a tragedy. Gustave is a remarkably effective guardian angel.
