CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR MAKE IT WITH ORBIMAX CAMPAIGN PAGE
Starting Out
Louis moved to Paris as a welder just two years before the construction of the Eiffel Tower began. At just nineteen, Louis never thought he’d be dangling this high above Paris. But there he was - torch in hand, working on Monsieur Eiffel’s grand iron tower. Some folks called it an eyesore, others a marvel, but to him it was a day’s wage and a chance to be part of something almighty.
“It’s a day’s wage, sure, but more than that, it feels like you’re building something the whole world will stare at — and sacré nom, won’t it be grand to say you were here when the iron asparagus first sprouted!”
Life in the Sky
The air up on the tower bites much harder than down below. When the wind sweeps across the Seine, it will knock a man’s cap clean off. Tools are tied down with rope because no one wants a spanner flying off and clocking some poor chap on the boulevard.
The foremen is constantly barking at the crews because one slip can mean the end. Safety is depended on steady boots and steady hands. Harnesses are rare, the men rely on grip and nerve alone.
“One slip and you’re done for - there’s no second chance when you’re working in the sky, and no flic in Paris could write a report fast enough to get you stitched you back together.”
The Work Itself
Loui’s job was welding, fusing plates and girders with fire hot enough to blind a man who looked at the spark too long. Red hot sparks leap like fireworks, and the smell of scorched metal clings to his clothes.
“By the end of the day at supper, you can taste iron with every bite - even the bread’s got metal in it. My comrades laugh, saying I’ll end up as girder myself, part of this blasted iron lady.”
Pride in the Craft
Even though the tower had its critics, there was pride in the work. Each rivet and weld felt like a stitch in a giant’s coat. The men were piecing together something no one had dared attempt before, and word was people would come from all over the world to gawk at it as the centrepiece for the upcoming World Fair.
“Someday I’ll bring my enfants here, point up, and say, voilà! - your père put his sweat and tears into that. They’ll see more than just a steel tower, they’ll see the pride of our hands and a pinnacle of Paris workmanship.”
Pay and Brotherhood
The pay wasn’t grand, but it kept the workers bellies full and their boots mended. It also bound them together — the lads who risked their necks for honest labour and the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves.
“We may not be rich, but we’ve got something money can’t buy - trust and camaraderie in the man beside you, who’d sooner fall with you than let you slip from the tower.
The Iron Lady
When folk asked Louis what it was like, he told them plain and simple.
“It was perilous and punishing, but looking at it finished, I’m the proudest I’ve ever been. If the poets and painters sneer, and call her La dame de fer, let them because I know Mr Eiffel’s grand tower will outlast every one of them.”
