Paris-Part 1
SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Sitting at home, watching the very-late-in-the-year French Tennis Open Tournament on TV,
Credit Google Search and india.com
and on the screen was the Eiffel Tower – all lit up with its sparkly lights. According to Google search, the lights sparkle on the tower for five (5) minutes every hour, on the hour, while the beacon shines over Paris.
Credit Google Search and toureiffel.paris
Quoting the website: “On 31 December 1999 at the approach of midnight, the entire world will discover the beacon and the Tower’s sparkling lights.
The beacon, sending out two light beams with a reach of 80 kilometres, is composed of 4 “marine” motorised projectors. They are operated by automatically piloted computer programs. Since their rotation sweep is 90°, they are synchronized to form a double beam in a cross that pivots around 360°.
The xenon 6000 watt lamps were chosen for their longevity, around 1,200 hours. The lamps are cooled to prevent overheating and a heating system is activated when the temperatures drop below zero Centigrade whilst the lights are off.
This beacon resonates the image of Gustave Eiffel’s Tower itself as a universal and symbolic landmark.
The sparkling lights are superimposed over the golden lighting, they bring the monument to life for 5 minutes every hour on the hour once the Tower has been lit up until 1 am.
To finalize the show, the gold lights were shut down and only the sparkling lights performed, ten minutes of magic never seen before, breathtaking.” [www.toureiffelparis.com]
As Fred and I watched the few minutes of the sparkling lights on the tower, we were reminded that, back in 1981 when we visited Paris with our girls, there was a “blue” laser light projected from the tower. We took pictures (35 mm slide photos) of the tower and laser, but were informed that the laser light would NOT show up in photos. Below are the photos we took, contradicting that information. We were amazed and pleased at the outcome of the pictures we took.
We actually made several trips to Paris during our tours of duty. We went every time Fred’s parents came to visit us while we were stationed in Germany. We went when my mother came to visit us – once during each tour of duty. Fred’s parents loved to travel, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Paris. My mother had never been to Europe, and was so excited to see anything and anywhere we would take her. She was amazed at all she saw, especially in Paris. My father had been in World War 1, as a medic, and had stayed in France for a year following the war to study. He picked up a few words here and there in French, and continued to use them as I was growing up.
~~~~~~~~~~To be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Old Things R New 