So I know this isn’t gossip, but it’s Parisian history and so iconic I just had to share the news.
A nearly ten foot high section of the original stairs from the Eiffel Tower were sold at auction on Tuesday and brought an onslaught of bidders from all over the world.
The 14 steps were a part of the 984-foot structure when it was constructed by engineer Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World Fair in Paris.
Portions of the original stairs, which existed for nearly a century before an elevator was installed at the monument in 1983, have wound up at various museums and landmarks across the globe, including the Statue of Liberty, noted AFP.
Preauction values for the staircase block, which was owned by a Canadian art collector, had been expected to draw between $36,000 and $48,000 — about seven times less than the going price — before a “lively auction battle by phone” jacked up the price, and it went for $328,427!
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