In contrast to the serenely floodlit buildings along the River Seine, the Eiffel Tower shines brightly and it sparkles each evening for 5 minutes every hour on the hour from sunset to 1:00 AM. The golden lighting system was invented by engineer Pierre Bideau and unveiled on new years eve in 1985, which is 96 years after the tower was completed. Fun Fact: It takes 336 projectors to illuminate the tower and 25 mountain climbers took 5 months to individually install the 20,000 light bulbs which produce the sparkling effect