La Tour Eiffel to have the Mona Lisa treatment
By the end of next year, the area immediately under and around the legendary Tour Eiffel will have changed a little…. It won’t be quite as we currently know it anymore. The reason for that is the ever present terrorist threat / la menace terroriste in the capital, especially around very populous sites, and this motivated the Conseil de Paris to begin works on a bullet-proof glass / un mur pare-balles wall to be erected on two sides of the building. The other two sides will be protected by metal gates with check points / points de contrôle. On the square / la place itself and approaching roads, bollards / des bornes and surveillance cameras / des caméras de surveillance will also be put in place, in order to prevent a car ploughing through the crowd / une voiture bélier (ram car).
The decision is not making everyone happy, not only because the famous landmark might appear less attractive this way (see link for an artist impression), but also because the estimated cost reaches 20 million euros.
Paris officials in the Town Hall / la Mairie de Paris, however, claim this measure will be both more efficient and more esthetically pleasing than the existing protection around the monument.
We shall see….. On va voir!