My 41 French Quotes About Eiffel Tower (Instagram Captions)

Updated :
| By : Christine
I’m a retired 65 years old and I live in western Paris. Born in Alsace, I have always lived in this beautiful region of eastern France. Passionate about travel, culture and literature. Find me on Linkedin.

Table Of Contents

Bonjour les amis !

Paris is a city we all dream of visiting because of …… the Eiffel Tower !

It’s a beautiful city, but the Eiffel Tower adds an extra touch of beauty.

In my research, I thought I’d offer you my picks for quotes about this monument just to enrich your general culture.

Don’t forget to visit my article on French quotes about Paris.

Below, you’ll find 41 French quotes that focus solely on the Eiffel Tower.

— Christine

Read also: 21 French quotes about Travel

French quotes about the Eiffel Tower

Here’s my list of 41 French quotes about Eiffel Tower :

French Quotes about Eiffel Tower from famous French figures :

1- “Je devrais être jaloux de cette tour. Elle est plus célèbre que moi.” – Gustave Eiffel – Architect

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Gustave Eiffel

English translation: I should be jealous of this tower. It’s more famous than I am.

My personal interpretation: Gustave is just expressing the fact that the tower has become the most humble, famous and enduring work of architecture in the world.


2-“C’est le seul endroit de Paris d’où je ne vois pas la Tour Eiffel.” – Guy de Maupassant – Author

English translation: “It’s the only place in Paris where I can’t see the Eiffel Tower.

My personal interpretation: With this quote, this writer evokes his feeling of disgust for the Eiffel Tower.


3- “C’est toujours pour demain que se construit la Tour Eiffel.” – Louis Aragon – poet, novelist and journalist

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is always built for tomorrow.

My personal interpretation: Louis is trying to make the point that great projects are built over time. He’s taking the example of the Eiffel Tower, which was a major investment project and, above all, an achievement that came to fruition over time.


4- “La Tour Eiffel est un défi lancé à l’architecture traditionnelle parisienne.” – Charles Garnier – Architect

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is a challenge to traditional Parisian architecture.

My personal interpretation: For Charles, the Tower’s construction was a challenge to the people of Paris, who didn’t really believe in it.


5- “La Tour Eiffel, c’est un signal, un phare de Paris. Elle donne une identité à notre ville.” – Jean Nouvel – Architect

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is a signal, a beacon for Paris. It gives an identity to our city.

My personal interpretation: Jean sees the tower as the identity of the city of Paris. A beacon to identify this city anywhere.


6- “…Y’a d’la joie la tour Eiffel part en balade Comme un’ foll’ elle saut’ la Seine à pieds joints…” – Charles Trenet – Author

English translation: there’s joy in the air the Eiffel Tower goes for a ride Like a’ fool’ she jumps’ the Seine with both feet

My personal interpretation: Trenet’s Eiffel Tower phrase simply means that this monument brings joy and can be used to entertain.


7- “Bergère ô tour Eiffel le troupeau des ponts bêle ce matin.” – Guillaume Apollinaire – Poet

English translation: Shepherdess, O Eiffel Tower, the herd of bridges bleats this morning.

My personal interpretation: This expression from Guillaume’s poem just makes a comparison between natural and urban elements.


8- “La tour Eiffel grelottait dans le brouillard, on distinguait à peine ses pieds humides dans les flaques qu’un fin crachin agrandissait lentement.” – Michel Bussi – Writer

English translation: The Eiffel Tower shivered in the fog, its damp feet barely visible in the puddles that a fine drizzle slowly enlarged.

My personal interpretation: Michel’s poem just says that the Eiffel Tower trembles in the fog.


9- “Regard, objet, symbole, la Tour [Eiffel] est tout ce que l’homme met en elle, et ce qui est infini. Spectacle regardé et regardant, édifice inutile et irremplaçable, monde familier et symbole héroïque, témoin d’un siècle et monument toujours neuf, objet inimitable et sans cesse reproduit, elle est le signe pur, ouvert à tous les temps, à toutes les images et à tous les sens, la métaphore sans frein…” – Roland Barthes – Author

English translation: Gaze, object, symbol, the Tower [Eiffel] is all that man puts into it, and all that is infinite. A spectacle watched and looked at, a useless and irreplaceable edifice, a familiar world and a heroic symbol, a witness to a century and an ever-new monument, an inimitable and endlessly reproduced object, it is the pure sign, open to all times, all images and all senses, the unrestrained metaphor…

My personal interpretation: with this quotation, Roland Barthes makes it clear that the Eiffel Tower is a monument full of meaning.


10- “La tour Eiffel est vraiment d’une laideur qui déconcerte et elle n’est même pas énorme !” – Joris-Karl Huysmans – Writer

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is really of an ugliness that baffles, and it’s not even huge!

My personal interpretation: With this statement, Joris-Karl is expressing a personal opinion, because for him, this monument is disconcerting and reflects nothing beautiful.


11- “…La tour Eiffel est toujours là Bonjour la tour, bonjour, bonjour Paris…” – Mistinguett – Author

English translation: …The Eiffel Tower is still there Hello tower, hello, hello Paris…

My personal interpretation: Through this quotation, this artist is simply expressing her joy at seeing this monument in the city of Paris, as the Tower represents the city’s identity for her.


12- “Tour Eiffel Guitare du ciel, Ta télégraphie sans fil, Attire les mots, Comme un rosier les abeilles.” – Vicente Huidobro – poet

English translation: Eiffel Tower Guitar of the sky, Your wireless telegraphy, Attracts words, Like a rosebush the bees.

My personal interpretation: He uses metaphor to compare the Eiffel Tower to a guitar that links earth to sky.


13- “Symbole universel de Paris, elle est partout sur la Terre où Paris doit être énoncé en image.” – Roland Barthes – Author

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (2)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Roland Barthes

English translation: A universal symbol of Paris, it is everywhere on Earth where Paris must be stated in image.

My personal interpretation: The Tower is one of the identifiers of Paris, because for him it’s a universal symbol of the city.


14- “Et puis, on l’a assez vue, la tour Eiffel ! – On l’a trop vue !… Conservons-la, soit, mais donnons-lui un autre aspect. – Si on la renversait la tête en bas, les pieds en l’air ?”” – Alphonse Allais – Author

English translation: We’ve seen enough of the Eiffel Tower! – We’ve seen too much of it! Let’s keep it, but give it a different look. – What if we turned it upside down, with its feet in the air?”

My personal interpretation: with this quote, Alphonse is just suggesting that we bring a new innovation to the Eiffel Tower to preserve its symbolic and unique character.


15- “Tour Eiffel d’ossements Catacombes aériennes Tibias escaliers Et à trois cents mètres au-dessus du sol Le crâne antenne Qui ne parle que pour l’écoute”– Raymond Queneau – Author

English translation: Eiffel Tower of bones Aerial catacombs Tibias staircases And three hundred meters above the ground The skull antenna That speaks only for listening

My personal interpretation: This monument to Raymond is one of the most impressive works on earth. Through the quotation, he gives the components of the Tower while adding that this monument is a silent art that observes everything.


16- “J’adore sincèrement la tour Eiffel, cette énorme masse de métal et son côté un peu punk, intemporel… perdue au milieu de la ville, elle ressemble à une plate-forme flottant en pleine mer.” – Jean-Pierre Jeunet – Film Director

English translation: I sincerely love the Eiffel Tower, this enormous mass of metal and its slightly punk, timeless side… lost in the middle of the city, it looks like a platform floating on the open sea.”

My personal interpretation: Jean Pierre expresses his admiration for the Tower while qualifying it.


17- “J’ai quitté Paris et même la France, parce que la tour Eiffel finissait par m’ennuyer trop.” – Guy de Maupassant – Author

English translation: I left Paris and even France, because the Eiffel Tower ended up boring me too much.

My personal interpretation: Guy feels suffocated by the Tower, because for him, it brings no innovation. Nothing about it changes.


18- “Pour célébrer le Centenaire de 1789, il fallait oser dresser un monument incomparable, digne du génie industriel de la France.” – Emile Monod – Author

English translation: “To celebrate the Centenary of 1789, it was necessary to dare to erect an incomparable monument, worthy of France’s industrial genius.”

My personal interpretation: Emile Monod’s quotation emphasizes the celebration of the Centenary of 1780, suggesting that this event be commemorated and immortalized by a monument worthy of its name.


19- “Dans leur idée, la tour Eiffel était ce qu’il y a de plus beau au monde. Moi je crois que tout ce que les gens font est beau.” – Beatrix Beck – Writer

English translation: In their minds, the Eiffel Tower was the most beautiful thing in the world. I believe that everything people do is beautiful.

My personal interpretation: This French thinker just expresses beauty in everything people do, because for him the Tower is the most beautiful monument in the world.


20- “Nous sommes tous citoyens de la tour Eiffel.” – Jules Simon – Author

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (3)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Jules Simon

English translation: We are all citizens of the Eiffel Tower.

My personal interpretation: For Jules Simon, the Eiffel Tower is not just the identity of Paris. It belongs to the entire French population.


21- “Le moindre vent me dirige. Au lieu de remonter la Seine j’ai suivi son courant. Des patrouilles escortaient ce poète qui allait au travail – et voici la Tour Eiffel ! Mon Dieu, quelle confiance il possédait en la gravitation universelle, son ingénieur ! Sainte-Vierge, si un quart de seconde l’hypothèse de la loi de la pesanteur était controuvée, quel magnifique décombre ! Voilà ce qu’on élève avec des hypothèses. Voilà réalisée en fer la corde que lance au ciel le fakir et à laquelle il invite ses amis à grimper…”” – Jean Giraudoux – Novelist

English translation: The slightest wind steers me. Instead of going up the Seine, I followed its current. Patrols escorted this poet on his way to work – and here’s the Eiffel Tower! My God, what confidence his engineer had in universal gravitation! Blessed Virgin, if for a quarter of a second the hypothesis of the law of gravity was disproved, what a magnificent piece of rubble! That’s what you build with hypotheses. Here’s the rope made of iron that the fakir throws to the sky and invites his friends to climb…

My personal interpretation: with this quotation, Jean is praising the Tower. For him, the Tower is characterized by hard work and trust, and the creation of this monument is to be commended.


22- “Je pense que la Tour est devenue une des merveilles du monde. Pour l’avoir aimée et pour le plaisir qu’elle m’a donné, je ne trouve pas de mérite de lui avoir donné depuis 1910 des multiples formes de mon amour.” – Robert Delaunay – Artist

English translation: “I think the Tower has become one of the wonders of the world. For having loved it and for the pleasure it has given me, I find no merit in having given it since 1910 multiple forms of my love.”

My personal interpretation: For him, the Tower is a wonder of the world, because it is well built and deserves all the love in the world.


23- “En face de la Notre-Dame gothique, c’est le vrai clocher du Paris moderne qui se dresse au Champ de Mars. Les deux œuvres, la Tour et la Nef, sont nées du même désir, et toutes deux réalisent un rêve semblable d’exaltation surhumaine.”-– Raymond Duchamp-Villon – Sculptor

English translation: Opposite the Gothic Notre-Dame, the real bell tower of modern Paris stands on the Champ de Mars. Both works, the Tower and the Nave, are born of the same desire, and both realize a similar dream of superhuman exaltation.”

My personal interpretation: Raymond Duchamp makes a comparison between the Tower and the Nave in this quotation. For him, these two monuments convey the same ideology.


24- “La tour Eiffel, cèdre en acier, s’élance soudain et fuit la suie, le trépignement, l’asphalte roussi.” – Avraham Shlonsky – poet and publisher

English translation: The Eiffel Tower, cedar of steel, suddenly soars and flees the soot, the trepidation, the scorched asphalt.

My personal interpretation: Abraham’s quotation highlights the Tower. It has the height and solidity of a steel cedar. Through soot, stamping and asphalt, he integrates the Tower into the universe of life.


25- “La tour Eiffel figure souvent sur mes clichés, c’est incontestablement une icône avec sa structure unique et imposante. Dès qu’on la voit, on sait immédiatement que l’on est à Paris.” – Elliott Erwitt – Photographer

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is often featured in my photographs, and it’s undeniably an icon with its unique, imposing structure. As soon as you see it, you immediately know you’re in Paris.

My personal interpretation: the Tower, with its unique and imposing design, can be identified on all kinds of objects and is a reminder of the beautiful city that is Paris.


26- “… Autour du cou charmant Eiffel la belle girafe en dentelle rendez-vous de pigeons voyageurs inconnus et laisse en bas l’azur éloquent choir au bord de l’eau… Le chant du Paveur – Jean Cocteau – Poet

English translation: … Around Eiffel’s charming neck the beautiful lace giraffe rendezvous with unknown carrier pigeons and below lets the eloquent azure fall to the water’s edge… The Paveur’s song

My personal interpretation: For Jean Cocteau, the Tower is likened to a giraffe, because it’s so incredibly high, and it’s home to carrier pigeons that come from nowhere.


27- “La tour Eiffel est comme une femme nue, sans ses habits, avec tout au plus du maquillage.” -Olivier Delahaye – Film director

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is like a naked woman, without her clothes, with make-up at most.

My personal interpretation: For Oliver, the beauty of the Eiffel Tower can be compared to a naked woman who, even without her clothes, is still beautiful.


French Quotes about Eiffel Tower from famous international figures

28- ”Quel spectacle exaltant, envoûtant ! Quelle hauteur vertigineuse à contempler ! C’était le sommet même de l’immense Tour Eiffel.” -Mark Twain – Writer

English translation: What an exhilarating, bewitching sight! What a dizzying
to contemplate! It was the very top of the immense Eiffel Tower.”

My personal interpretation: For Mark, what makes the Tower so special is its height.


29- “J’adore la Tour Eiffel, elle est un symbole parfait de la beauté de la science.” – Albert Einstein – Physicist

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (4)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Albert Einstein

English translation: I love the Eiffel Tower, it’s a perfect symbol of the beauty of science.

My personal interpretation: Albert contemplates the Tower as a symbol of the beauty of science.


30- “La Tour Eiffel est un prodige d’audace et d’ingéniosité.” – Thomas Edison – Inventor

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is a prodigy of audacity and ingenuity.

My personal interpretation: Thomas salutes the bravery and ingenuity of the Tower’s engineers.


31- “La vue de Paris est plus belle depuis la Tour Eiffel, surtout parce que c’est le seul endroit d’où on ne voit pas la Tour.” – Oscar Wilde – Poet

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (5)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Oscar Wilde

English translation: “The view of Paris is best from the Eiffel Tower, mainly because it’s the only place from which you can’t see the Tower.”

My personal interpretation: For Oscar, it’s impossible to be in Paris without seeing the Tower. The only place you can’t see it is the Tower itself.


32- “Je suis allé à Paris, j’ai vu la Tour Eiffel. C’est comme être à New York, en fait.”– Andy Warhol – Artist

English translation: I went to Paris, I saw the Eiffel Tower. It’s like being in New York, really.

My personal interpretation: Andy compares the tower to the Statue of Liberty, because the Eiffel Tower is still the city of Paris in a nutshell.


33- “Nous avons passé trois jours à Paris, trois jours entiers sans sortir de la Tour Eiffel.” – Groucho Marx – Actor

English translation: We spent three days in Paris, three whole days without leaving the Eiffel Tower.

My personal interpretation: Groucho is simply saying that the Tower is still Paris. You can’t move in this city without seeing it.


34- “La Tour Eiffel est la plus belle antenne de radio du monde.” – Woody Allen – Film director

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (7)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Woody Allen

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is the most beautiful radio antenna in the world.

My personal interpretation: Woody compares the height of the Tower to the height of a radio antenna, usually long in stature.


35- “La Tour Eiffel est le cadre parfait pour raconter une histoire.” – Orson Welles – Film Director

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is the perfect setting to tell a story.

My personal interpretation: The Tower for Orson is the story of the city of Paris. A monument that tells the story of this city.


36- “La Tour Eiffel est l’un des plus grands exemples de l’ingéniosité de l’homme. C’est une source d’inspiration pour tous ceux qui cherchent à accomplir de grandes choses.”– Walt Disney – Business Man

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is one of the greatest examples of man’s ingenuity. It is a source of inspiration to all those who seek to achieve great things.”- My personal interpretation: For Walt, the Eiffel Tower is a source of inspiration to all those who seek to achieve great things.

My personal interpretation: For Walt, the Eiffel Tower must be a source of inspiration for mankind because of the ingenuity of its designers.


37- “Paris est toujours une bonne idée, et la Tour Eiffel est son symbole.” – Audrey Hepburn – Actress

french-quotes-about-eiffel-tower (8)
Instagram caption about Eiffel tower by Audrey Hepburn

English translation: Paris is always a good idea, and the Eiffel Tower is its symbol.

My personal interpretation: Going to Paris is the best idea according to Audrey, because the Tower is a must-see place in the world.


38- “Je rêvais toujours de mettre en scène une poursuite sur la Tour Eiffel.”” – Alfred Hitchcock – Film director

English translation: I always dreamed of directing a chase on the Eiffel Tower.

My personal interpretation: A great film director, Alfred expressed his desire to use the Tower to film a chase on the Tower.


39- ““La Tour Eiffel est l’un des plus beaux endroits au monde pour contempler le coucher du soleil.” – Charlie Chaplin – Film director

English translation: “The Eiffel Tower is one of the most beautiful places in the world to watch the sunset.

My personal interpretation: With this thought, Charlie is just highlighting the Tower’s height, while asserting that you can best see the sunset once on this monument.


40- “Vous ne pouvez pas vous empêcher de tomber amoureux de la Tour Eiffel. C’est l’une des plus belles choses que l’homme ait jamais créées.” – Ernest Hemingway – Writer

English translation: You can’t help falling in love with the Eiffel Tower. It’s one of the most beautiful things man has ever created.”

My personal interpretation: The Eiffel Tower is a work of art that seduces everyone. It’s impossible to visit it and not fall in love with this monument.


41- “La Tour Eiffel est un phare dans le brouillard, un symbole de l’esprit humain face à l’obscurité” – Stephen King – Writer

English translation: The Eiffel Tower is a lighthouse in the fog, a symbol of the human spirit in the face of darkness.

My personal interpretation: Even in the fog, the Eiffel Tower is always visible.


I’m at the end of my selection of French quotes about the Eiffel Tower.

I’ve visited this monument and I can tell you it’s a marvel.

Take a tour and you’ll see that these quotes are true.

See you soon!

Christine



People also ask about French quotes about Eiffel Tower:

What’s a famous quote about Paris in French?

There are many famous quotes about Paris in French.

Among these quotes, I’d like to suggest one that I consider quite famous.

It’s Alphonse Karr’s quote “The true Parisian doesn’t love Paris, but he can’t live anywhere else.”

What’s the French expression for the Eiffel Tower?

The French expression for the Eiffel Tower is nothing other than the Eiffel Tower.

What is the love quote about the Eiffel Tower?

There are many love quotes about the Eiffel Tower, because there are many statements about it.

Here’s one for you:

The Eiffel Tower is like a naked woman, without her clothes, with make-up at most.” – Olivier Delahaye


About Culture In France :

4.9/5 - (16 votes)